The end of the affair

Rugby correspondent Gerry Thornley gets an insight into the anxious months that the Ireland and Munster hooker spent out of the game

Frankie Sheahan sat in a quiet corner of a city centre hotel in Dublin, looking tired and emotionally drained after one of the longest nights of his life and certainly the longest three months. Although the player along with his nearby family and legal advisors were consuming pots of coffee while still awaiting yesterday's official ERC statement, it had been indicated to them that his career could resume this weekend. It had, he admitted, been a very surreal experience.

"I can't believe it's all over. It's been a torrid three months; absolutely the worst three months of my life by a long shot. But I've learned an awful lot. The support out there was absolutely fantastic. My family were absolutely brilliant. Packie Derham, my solicitor, was fantastic, and just people in general were brilliant, and I must say 99.9 per cent of the media were very fair. I must say I really appreciate that."

Were it not for the supportive comments from other players such as fellow asthmatics Ronan O'Gara and David Wallace, not to mention Martin Johnson, and Niall Woods from IRUPA, he reckons that "this case would have been brushed under the carpet". He learned who his friends are, he admits. "But I must say I didn't actually come across one bit of negative stuff. Well, face to face I didn't. I know people must have been sick to death of defending me to laymen out there and people genuinely had concerns at the time when someone is banned for two years.

"But I'm so happy now that the facts have come out. It was always a good thing about this case that the facts were there and people could judge for themselves. In fairness to the ERC and the ERC Appeal Tribunal, they were extremely fair in their hearing, they read the facts, they listened to the facts and they made a decision on the basis that there was an error, an inadvertence, and I have to hold my hand up in some way for that. It was my fault. There were other factors as well; Munster were at fault. But at the same time I was absolutely exonerated from any form of substance abuse."

Sheahan has been taking salbutamol, via Ventolin inhalers, since 1977, but having never heard of salbutamol until this case first came to light, now reckons he's almost an expert on it at this stage.

"First off, if you don't have asthma and you take an inhaler it will do absolutely nothing for you. Second off, my understanding of eight puffs, which I did take, or even another 10 puffs, is that it wouldn't make any difference to me. The only side effects it would have on me would be performance detrimental rather than performance enhancing. It would give me tremors in my heart and tremors in my hand throwing in the ball.

"Also there's no published evidence in the world to say that salbutamol could be taken as an anabolic agent through an inhaler, or else you would have to take over 200 puffs a day, every day, to gain some form of performance enhancement from it through an anabolic agency. Obviously that would be a few canisters a day. So the IOC are going to have to review what they do with salbutamol.

"This is a very serious area. This could have been my life. This could have been the end of me. It would have been more than just two years away from my livelihood. It would have been my reputation for good and it still has dented my reputation. But I think people will accept this for what it is. This matter cannot just be finished with now. I hope to finish with it in the next couple of days, because I want to get on with my life, but this is a crucial matter for the bodies I mentioned earlier to identify salbutamol, and the factors that can influence it. It should be taken off the WADA (World Anti-Doping Association) list and the IOC list because this could finish a person's career."

In recalling the efforts of Professor Henry Chrystyn at the University of Bradford, whose only payment was to seek "justice for Sheahan", the player became a little watery-eyed when admitting he could not name other people who worked unstintingly on his behalf.

"There was absolutely fantastic work done through medical experts from all over the world. There were guys deeply involved in the IRFU who could not be seen to be involved in this case who took the gloves off after the initial decision. Even the prosecution medical witness (Professor Kenneth Fitch), all he ever seemed to want was justice. Once the tests came back from Barcelona he saw the case for what it was. It was the type of support I got from Professor Chrystyn and other people who I cannot name, they know who they are themselves, during the whole three months which kept me going through the tough times."

Rewind to the fateful European Cup semi-final between Toulouse and Munster in Toulouse on April 26th. What happened that day? "It was without a shadow of a doubt the most intense game I ever played in. I think Chris Whyte (the referee) said it himself, that it was the most physical match he had ever refereed. There's always a difference when you're chasing a game. We were a point down, Toulouse brought on seven subs, we brought on one or two near the end, yet we went hell for leather.

"I would hold my hand on my heart and would actually say it was the most honest and best performance I've ever given in any jersey. I thought I played the best game I've ever played. I remember toward the end of the game I had nothing left and when I came off I was shattered. Alan Gaffney said he'd never seen someone so shattered. My name came out of the hat again, for the fourth time of the year. So I proceeded to drink as much water as I could. I drank up to 11 litres of water after the game. I was conscious of getting tested and I knew I was extremely dehydrated.

"I threw back about four litres in half-an-hour, had a shower and then this cramping started. It started in one or two places and then got gradually worse until the extent I got frightened. I called for the doctor and I was put up on a bed after an attack of cramps.

"For want of a better medical explanation, if you just replace the fluid without replacing the sodium and the salts, cramping starts. I was in an awful state and eventually went into the doping place. My phone was ringing. People had finished their meal. I was the last in there. Everyone was waiting for me and I was still nowhere near going to the toilet.

"They were telling me they were getting on the bus (to Toulouse airport) so I eventually forced something out. What came out was this sort of toxic stuff and it was so concentrated that it was actually sore to pass urine. I'm led to believe through my medical expert, and I'd like to advise this, that you should let your bladder fill. That was the fundamental difference between this test and the Leicester test. In the Leicester test I had a full bladder which diluted things inside me, whereas in this test I had an extremely concentrated sample. It was shown to be extremely toxic but of course this was the last thing on my mind."

Asked how many puffs of Ventolin he took that particularly day, Sheahan said he took eight, which is normal, though "it has happened" that he has taken more or less. "My understanding of Ventolin is that it's on a need-to-have basis. If I needed more than eight puffs my doctor would have no problem giving me more.

"I have a bit of a routine. I would take eight puffs through the course of getting off the bus, to before the warm-up, before the match and at half-time, as much for prevention as much for cure. It did happen during the Gloucester game that Mick Shinkwin (the Munster team doctor) had to come on and diagnose me with a puff during the match. But it's not often that happens. Mick has always given me my inhaler in good faith, and I have always taken my inhaler in good faith."

How does he feel about drugs cheats in sport? "I would go so far as to say that if somebody wascheating and took something that was banned or performance enhancing I don't think a six-month ban, one-year ban or a two-year ban is sufficient. I think a lifetime ban should be sufficient. If somebody is taking something and cheating, they should be banned for life. There is no place whatsoever for drugs in sport.

"I can accept that the ERC saw a level that was high. They did have to investigate it. It has been costly for me because I didn't tick the box - there's other factors involved in that - but I can accept that this is an area which the ERC and the IRB and other bodies have to weed out. But at the same time they have to get their guidelines right." Sheahan stated, adamantly, that he had never taken performance enhancing drugs. "Absolutely never, never in my life."

So the future, and what it holds for him, which prompts his first smile of the interview. "What now? I think it's Munster-Leinster on Friday night. All I know is that I've been training extremely hard. I've actually had a great pre-season training, because I wasn't able to do rugby training as such. I'm extremely fresh, both physically and mentally, and I'm ready and available and hungry for playing on Friday night, and available and rarin' for this World Cup. And hopefully, all going well, I'll get a call."