Six Georgian Rugby Players, Including Former Captain, Receive Bans Over Anti-Doping Violations
Six Georgian rugby players, including former national team captain Merab Sharikadze, and a team doctor have been suspended for periods ranging from months to multiple years for violating anti-doping rules, World Rugby said on May 12.
The suspensions were handed down to Giorgi Chkoidze (six years), Lasha Khmaladze (three years), Merab Sharikadze (eleven years), Mirian Modebadze (three years), Otar Lashkhi (three years), Lasha Lomidze (nine months), and Dr. Nutsa Shamatava (nine years).
The sanctions followed “the most extensive anti-doping investigation ever undertaken in rugby,” covering a period of time before the Men’s Rugby World Cup 2023 in France. While no evidence was uncovered of alleged use of performance-enhancing substances, World Rugby said it did find “credible evidence” that urine sample substitutions had occurred to conceal the use of non-performance-enhancing substances, such as cannabis and tramadol.
Georgian Rugby Union said on May 12 that it “agreed with the decision taken by World Rugby, under which, in addition to the relevant sanctions, it undertook an obligation to implement reforms in anti-doping education.”
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