Sheahan banned for two years by ERC

Ireland and Munster hooker Frankie Sheahan has been banned for two years after testing positive for the prohibited substance Salbutamol.

Sheahan was found to have illegal levels of the drug in his system after both the quarter-final and semi-final of the European Cup, earlier this year.

The competition's governimg body, European Rugby Cup (ERC) banned the Ireland international after two samples sent to the International Olympic Committee-accredited lab in Paris were returned positive.

Sheahan, who was forced to return home from Ireland's tour of the southern hemisphere when news broke of the results, has always maintained that the finding were the result of an administrative error.

He claimed that his failure to fill out a form correctly was the cause of the confusion and that he should have ticked a box on a form, informing the ERC that he was asthmatic and therefore was dependent on Ventolin, which contains Salbutamol.

However it was revealed in the hearing that Sheahan's system contained 20 times more Salbutamol after the semi-final against Toulouse than it had following the quarter-final.

The Tribunal therefore ruled that it "cannot with conscience conclude that the player has satisfied us, on the balance of probabilities, that he administered himself with only eight puffs of ventolin containing Salbutamol for the purpose of properly treating and / or preventing his asthma and / or exercise-induced asthma."

The Munster hooker now has 14 days in which to appeal the ruling.