Two players banned after admitting buying Clenbuterol

FORMER Southland club player Blake Roff has been banned from playing after admitting buying the stimulant Clenbuterol from the clenbuterol.co.nz website.

New Zealand Rugby issued a statement yesterday about two players: Roff, of Southland, and Chris Johnston, of Hawke’s Bay.

Roff played lock for Marist in the Southland premier competition and also played for Southland B.

He admitted he had bought 10 millilitres of Clenbuterol from the now defunct website in December, 2014. He said it was not to lose weight but to help with asthma.

He was provisionally suspended in November last year and usually the punishment is backdated 12 months because of the delay of the proceedings and admitting guilt.

But Roff had played a game in Scotland after being served, so no credit was given for the admission of guilt.

He was suspended from playing the game for two years from May 29 last year.

Johnston was suspended for two years after he admitted two violations of possession and attempted use of a Clenbuterol when he bought it online in September 2014.

He claimed the substance was not used but accepted it was his responsibility to consider antidoping rules before making the purchase. The committee backdated the twoyear suspension by 12 months to October 9, 2017, to account for the delay in proceedings and Johnston’s timely admission.