Ex-Georgia skipper Sharikadze banned for 11 years for role in doping scandal

May 12 : 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, Dr 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 they 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 their athlete passport management programme.

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