Six Georgia players sanctioned in doping case

World Rugby and the World Anti-Doping Agency have confirmed anti-doping rule violations involving six Georgia men’s international players and one member of the team’s support staff after a joint investigation uncovered an organised sample substitution scheme.

Georgia Rugby Doping Violations Confirmed

The case relates to irregularities in urine samples collected over an extended period before the 2023 Men’s Rugby World Cup in France. According to the governing bodies, the violations were not linked to performance-enhancing substances but instead involved recreational drugs and the swapping of samples, which is still a serious breach of anti-doping rules.

World Rugby said the investigation began after abnormalities were identified through its athlete passport management programme. The case was then pursued jointly with WADA using targeted testing and DNA analysis, including checks on historical samples kept under long-term storage procedures.

Six Players And Staff Member Sanctioned

World Rugby confirmed that six players and one support staff member have been charged and sanctioned. The investigation also found evidence of an orchestrated effort to avoid detection, making the case one of the more serious disciplinary developments in recent international rugby.

The announcement makes clear that the issue was uncovered through a formal anti-doping process and that sanctions have already been applied in several cases, with some individuals now going through appeal procedures.

World Rugby And WADA Response

The governing bodies said the case underlines the importance of long-term monitoring and cooperation between anti-doping agencies. World Rugby described itself as committed to protecting clean sport and said it would continue to take strong action in cases involving manipulation of the testing process.

“World Rugby can confirm that a major joint-investigation conducted [with Wada] has resulted in anti-doping rule violations (ADRVs) being confirmed against six players and one member of the support personnel from the Georgia men’s senior national fifteens team,” read a statement from the global governing body," read a statement from World Rugby.

“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 throughout complex and extensive parallel investigations which featured targeted player testing and DNA analysis by World Rugby, including on historical samples held via World Rugby’s long-term storage programme.

“Six players and a member of team support personnel have been charged and sanctioned in relation to an orchestrated scheme involving recreational drugs and sample substitution (a practice prohibited by the Wada Code and the World Rugby anti-doping rules).”