Former Georgia captain Merab Sharikadze was one of six players handed lengthy bans from rugby for their part in a scheme involving alleged sample substitution and advance warnings of drug tests, World Rugby said on Tuesday.
A joint probe conducted by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and World Rugby revealed six Georgia rugby players and a team official had committed anti-doping rule violations.
Sharikadze, who captained Georgia when they shocked Wales in 2022, has been banned from the sport for 11 years, while hooker Giorgi Chkoidze has been banned for six years.
Lasha Khmaladze, Otar Lashkhi and Miriani Modebadze each received three-year suspensions while Lasha Lomidze was banned for nine months. The official, Nutsa Shamatava, was banned for nine years.
“These suspensions are backdated to include the provisional suspensions issued to all individuals upon charge and result in a complete suspension from all rugby activities,” World Rugby said in a statement.
WADA said it found five instances where players swapped urine samples to avoid detection, while employees of Georgia’s national anti-doping agency, GADA, also tipped off players about upcoming tests.
World Rugby said the investigation was triggered when “irregularities in urine samples were identified” by its athlete passport management program.
Sharikadze had provided a urine sample for three players — Modebadze, Lomidze and Lashkhi — between February 2022 and June 2023, with DNA analysis confirming the sample did not match the concerned players.
“The DNA comparisons confirmed that the [three samples] … were a match for the DNA profile of Merab Sharikadze,” World Rugby said.
Shamatava was identified as the organiser of the urine sample substitution while she also “provided advance notice of upcoming out-of-competition doping controls” in group chats to at least 26 players.
“World Rugby’s operating hypothesis was that the urine sample substitutions were conducted to conceal the use of performance-enhancing substances, however World Rugby’s extensive investigation has revealed no evidence to support this,” World Rugby said.
“In parallel, there was credible evidence to support the players’ assertions that the urine sample substitutions occurred to conceal the use of non-performance-enhancing substances [namely, cannabis and tramadol].”
World Rugby also issued a misconduct charge against the Georgia Rugby Union, which accepted the charge and agreed to a sanction, including a financial penalty.
It covered a period of time prior to the 2023 men’s Rugby World Cup in France, where Georgia finished bottom of their pool without a victory.
Sharikadze has since retired from rugby and made the switch to mixed martial arts, making his debut in November with a win.
Reuters
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