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Rugby doping scandal sees six Georgia players get long bans, including one for 11 years
TL;DR
Six players from Georgia's rugby team received lengthy bans for a urine-swapping scheme to evade anti-doping tests, with one player banned for 11 years. The scandal is described as the most extensive anti-doping investigation in rugby history.
Key points
- Six Georgia rugby players received long bans for doping violations
- Merab Sharikadze received an 11-year ban
- Nutsa Shamatava, the team doctor, was banned for nine years
- Investigation revealed urine sample swapping to avoid positive tests
- Georgia Rugby Union accepted a misconduct charge and financial penalty
Mentioned in this story
Merab SharikadzeGiorgi ChkoidzeLasha KhmaladzeOtar LashkhiMiriani ModebadzeLasha LomidzeNutsa Shamatava
Georgia Rugby Union
DUBLIN (AP) — Six players from Georgia’s rugby team have been handed long bans — including one for 11 years — for their involvement in a urine-swapping scheme to cheat anti-doping tests in one of the sport's biggest corruption scandals. The case was described by World Rugby on Tuesday as “the most extensive anti-doping investigation ever undertaken in rugby.” Former captain Merab Sharikadze was given the 11-year ban, while Giorgi Chkoidze was banned for six years, and Lasha Khmaladze, Otar Lashkhi and Miriani Modebadze received three-year suspensions. Lasha Lomidze was banned for nine months. Nutsa Shamatava, the national team's doctor, was banned for nine years for her role in the scandal, where she provided advance notice of upcoming out-of-competition doping controls to players in group chats. World Rugby said it discovered irregularities in urine samples in the run-up to the men’s Rugby World Cup in France in 2023 and alerted the World Anti-Doping Agency. Their joint investigation found the six players “engaged in swapping of urine samples to avoid the risk of testing positive for substances that they believed were prohibited, the former men’s first team doctor provided advance notice of testing and other members of staff arguably were or ought to be have been aware that such advance notice was provided,” read a summary in the independent report of the case. World Rugby said the investigation revealed no evidence that the urine samples were substituted to conceal the use of performance-enhancing substances. Instead, the governing body said there was “credible evidence” to support assertions by the six players that they concealed cannabis and a painkiller, tramadol. The Georgia Rugby Union accepted a misconduct charge, World Rugby added, and agreed to an undisclosed financial penalty and to implement “a roadmap of various reforms and measures in its anti-doping training and education to mitigate the risk of any future issues of this nature arising.” \\\_ AP rugby:
Q&A
What were the bans given to the Georgia rugby players involved in the doping scandal?
Merab Sharikadze received an 11-year ban, Giorgi Chkoidze was banned for six years, while Lasha Khmaladze, Otar Lashkhi, and Miriani Modebadze received three-year suspensions, and Lasha Lomidze was banned for nine months.
What role did Nutsa Shamatava play in the Georgia rugby doping scandal?
Nutsa Shamatava, the national team's doctor, was banned for nine years for providing advance notice of upcoming doping tests to players.
What did World Rugby find during the investigation into the Georgia rugby doping case?
World Rugby found that the players engaged in urine sample swapping to avoid testing positive, but there was no evidence that the samples were substituted to conceal performance-enhancing substances.
