Source: Radio New Zealand
World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Polish President Witold Banka, delivering a speech in Lausanne, Switzerland in March 2024. FABRICE COFFRINI
A major World Rugby and World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) investigation has resulted in anti-doping rule violations being confirmed against six players and one member of the athlete support personnel from the Georgia national rugby union team.
Launched in 2023, the investigation, named Operation Obsidian, looked into claims that players engaged in sample substitution in blatant contravention, outlined in Code Article 2.2 of anti-doping rules.
A report released on Saturday by both bodies reveals five instances where sample substitution occurred, also finding that advance notice of testing was being given to players from the Georgia national rugby union team by employees of the Georgian Anti-Doping Agency (GADA).
It also determined that doping control officers were not observing athletes notified for doping control and not witnessing urine passing, which are clear non-conformities under the rules.
“What has been happening in Georgian rugby is outrageous and will send shockwaves through Georgian sport and government, as well as the global game of rugby,” said WADA President Witold Bańka.
“I also praise World Rugby’s commitment to uncovering the facts and its willingness to work collaboratively with WADA to deliver this strong result for rugby.
“This is not the end of the story as further investigation is now going on deeper into Georgian sport.
“WADA has brought Operation Obsidian’s findings to the attention of the Government of Georgia to address the issues in the Georgian Anti-Doping Agency.
“As the next steps are being considered, clearly, WADA has lost confidence in GADA’s anti-doping program and wholesale changes must now be made by the relevant authorities,” said Banka.
WADA has also extracted samples collected from athletes of other sports in Georgia, with an expert review of the Athlete Biological Passports related to these samples now underway.
The six players, and the support personnel member, are yet to be named, with World Rugby saying the full disciplinary (results management) process has to be completed firdst.
But in a statement, the organisation says the investigation was triggered when irregularities in urine samples were identified by World Rugby’s athlete passport management programme, covering an extended period of time prior to Men’s Rugby World Cup 2023 in France.
World Rugby alerted WADA immediately and the two bodies worked closely together.
World Rugby said it took all anti-doping matters extremely seriously and was an unwavering champion of clean sport.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
