text: Dow Jones Reprints: This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. To order presentation-ready copies for distribution to your colleagues, clients or customers, use the Order Reprints tool at the bottom of any article or visit www.djreprints.com ||||| Australian Rugby Union CEO Bill Pulver. (Photo: Stefan Postles, Getty) Story Highlights Report finds doping is 'widespread' 
   
   Organized-crime syndicates involved 
   
   No individuals named 
   
   A lengthy investigation into the use of doping in Australian sports has found that the practice is "widespread." 
   
   The Australian Crime Commission issued a report Thursday in which it said "peptides and hormones are being used by professional athletes in Australia, facilitated by sports scientists, high-performance coaches and sports staff." 
   
   The commission, which did not name specific individuals, said that the drugs were being used by multiple players across different sports disciplines and that in some instances the banned substances were being supplied though the help of organized-crime groups. 
   
   "Organized crime has been found to have a tangible and expanding footprint in this market," the commission concluded. 
   
   "There are clear parallels between what has been discovered in Australia and the USADA investigation into Lance Armstrong," the report said. "The difference is that the Australian threat is current, crosses sporting codes and is evolving." 
   
   MORE: FDA investigating aspects related to Armstrong case 
   
   The Australian Football League (Aussie Rules) and the National Rugby League are the two sports "codes" that are under the most scrutiny. 
   
   "This is not a black day in Australian sport, this is the blackest day in Australian sport," said Richard Ings, the former head of the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority, speaking on Australia's ABC TV.
target: – Australian sports are besieged by performance-enhancing drugs and organized crime, according to a year-long government investigation, reports the Wall Street Journal. The report didn't name names, but it indicated illegal hormones and other performance enhancers are widespread in Australian sports, facilitated by coaches and trainers. "The findings are shocking and will disgust Australian sports fans," said Australia's Justice and Home Affairs Minister Jason Clare. "It's cheating, but it's worse than that. It's cheating with the help of criminals." The probe also found criminal networks growing increasingly involved in Australian sports, partially because of the PEDs and partially because of the growing popularity of betting, especially in rugby and Australian rules football, with at least "one occasion" of match fixing. "This is not a black day in Australian sport, this is the blackest day in Australian sport," the former head of the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority told USA Today.