Rugby union player, Daniel Matthews banned for two years
Press Release
1st November 2018
Rugby union player Daniel Matthews, of Bargoed RFC, has been suspended from all sport for a period of two years following an Anti-Doping Rule Violation (ADRV).
Mr Matthews tested positive for the presence of the prohibited substance benzoylecgonine (a metabolite of cocaine), following an in-competition test on 24 March 2018, after a match against Cross Keys RFC.
Mr Matthews was charged with an ADRV pursuant to Article 2.1 of the Anti-Doping Rules – “Presence of a Prohibited Substance or its Metabolites or Markers in an Athlete’s Sample”.
UKAD’s Director of Operations, Pat Myhill, said: “Regardless of whether an athlete is deliberately seeking to gain an unfair sporting advantage or not, all athletes must take sole responsibility for what enters their system.
“It is important all athletes understand the concept of strict liability and, even if a substance is only banned in-competition, they must be aware that ingesting such substances out-of-competition could still lead to a ban as it may remain in their system.”
The period of ineligibility shall apply from the date of sample collection (24 March 2018) until midnight on 23 March 2020.
To read the full judgement, please click here.
