Claim of ‘steroid culture’ in Sth Africa

An Irish sports writer is claiming South Africa’s World Cup victory is tainted by performance-enhancing drug use.

While not pointing a finger directly at any player in the Springboks World Cup squad, Neil Francis of the Irish Independent says the sporting world can be “fairly certain” that there is a “steroid culture in a country that has just won the World Cup”.

Francis, a former Ireland World Cup forward, writes that the circumstances surrounding the pre-tournament positive test returned by young Springboks outside back Aphiwe Dyantyi points to a bigger problem.

He has called on World Rugby to use Dyantyi’s case to investigate South African rugby further, but also suggests the governing body is happier turning a blind eye to any problem there.

Dyantyi was tested at a Springboks training camp in early July. It was initially reported that he had a hamstring problem, but in late August, it was revealed he had returned a positive test for a banned substance.

Dyantyi, who missed the World Cup and could be banned for four years, protested his innocence. But Francis argues the test results paint a very different picture. “Dyantyi’s statement was released immediately after his A sample results became public. It was a robust riposte,” Francis writes.

“When the B sample results became known, it was a bombshell — three prohibited substances: Methandienone, Methyltestosterone and Ligandrol or LGD 4033.

“It is not the cocktail of drugs that will do him, it is how the cocktail works in conjunction with each other that is so damning.

“Methandienone, or its trade name Dianabol, was first formulated in the early 1960s and has been improved on over the decades but you will find it still regularly pops up on Wada’s adverse findings list.

“Ligandrol, though, has only been on the market for several years and is the gold standard of anabolic steroids. It is known as a SARM — selective androgen receptor modulator. It goes directly to the muscle groupings required. It is an extremely efficient steroid. It is taken orally and you can pack on six to eight pounds of lean muscle in an eightweek cycle.

“Maybe I have underestimated the intellectual capacity of young men in the early to mid-20s but how many of them have the capacity to selfadminister on a sophisticated programme of androgynous anabolic steroids?’’

Unathi Mali, a South African women’s sevens player, was caught in 2018, claiming methandienone was in her drinking water and Springboks forward Chilliboy Ralepele was suspended twice for prohibited substances but finished out his career.