The Irish Sports Council has banned an unnamed boxing coach for 27 months for the administration of a prohibited substance to a boxer, the first coach ever to be sanctioned under their anti-doping programmes.
The ISC also announced that there were a total of eight anti-doping rule violations in 2012 from 787 tests across 31 sports. Four were related to cannabis and four of the violations arose from a substance found in supplements.
Three members of a Tug-of War team were banned for 18 months each for the use of Methylhexanamine in a targeted in-competition test based on intelligence supplied to the ISC. A soccer player also tested positive for the same substance.
A motorsport participant was banned for nine months for testing positive for cannabis and a cyclist was banned for seven weeks, also after testing positive for cannabis use. Decisions on two weightlifters that tested positive for the drug are pending.
There were also a number of what the ISC call “whereabouts failures”. For individual sports there were 18 “filing failures” and three “missed tests”. In team sports there were 12 “unsuccessful attempts” including eight in the GAA.
Three indiscretions of this kind can lead to an athlete receiving a sanction which to date has not arisen under the Irish Anti-Doping Rules.
Chairman of the Anti-Doping Committee, Professor Brendan Buckley, said: “The results highlight clearly where the problems remain. We see positive tests arising from the use of supplements which contain banned substances; this is something we have warned about repeatedly. Also, cannabinoids remain on the prohibited list and competitive athletes should avoid or risk sanction.”