> Most bans are for 6-12 months which is a joke.
An athlete's professional career is roughly ten years* with the majority of their earning potential to be an even smaller set of those years. A ban from being paid for 12 months may represent 10% or more of an athlete's career earning potential.
*Of course this varies a lot by sport, gymnastics careers are obviously very short, a golfer's career may be much longer.