Four rugby players fail test for cocaine
THE RFU have revealed that four Premiership players tested positive for cocaine during the 2017-18 campaign.
The union published their anti- doping and illicit drugs programme report yesterday, and were also forced to defend their strategy after admitting they cannot guarantee that every player in the elite league is drug tested at least once a season.
The RFU carried out 332 tests as part of their illicit drugs programme, with four players testing positive for cocaine after becoming ‘dislocated’ from their clubs through injury or not being selected. All the cases also involved the use of alcohol.
As first- time offenders, the players have had their identities protected, but they were fined and received psychiatric counselling.
The RFU’s director of medical services, Dr Simon Kemp, said: ‘These positives are not from players who typically play and train every week.
‘ They reflect risks 18 to 35-year- olds are exposed to when going out socially.
‘We are confident that this level of testing protects the reputation and integrity of the game.’
There were also 739 antidoping tests on players in the top two divisions of the men’s
game and the top division of the women’s game last season. As with previous seasons, this means that every player in the Premiership might not have been tested at least once because there are nearly 500 players in the league — with another 150 in top- flight academies — and several are tested multiple times.
Dr Kemp said: ‘No programme would have a hard-and-fast minimum number of tests.’
Nearly two-thirds of these tests were carried out by UK Anti-Doping (UKAD), with World Rugby doing most of the rest and European Professional Club Rugby and the Six Nations also contributing.
There were just two doping violations. Wasps forward Ashley Johnson was banned for six months for using a contaminated supplement, and Brandon Staples of Yorkshire Carnegie received a four-year suspension for use of steroids.
UKAD’s deputy director of operations, Hamish Coffey, said: ‘The programme was comprehensive and has been further improved through UKAD’s increased testing investment, so it is still one of the most comprehensive programmes.
‘But testing is not just about numbers — it is about the quality of those tests.’