Sheahan to learn fate later this week

Rugby: Frankie Sheahan must wait until later this week to discover his fate after an independent judicial tribunal failed to reach a conclusion following yesterday's hearing in Dublin.

The Cork Constitution, Munster and Ireland hooker had been charged by European Rugby Cup Ltd (ERC) with a doping offence following the European Cup semi-final between Toulouse and Munster on April 26th.

Analysis by the IOC-accredited lab in Paris of the B sample given by the player has confirmed the presence of salbutamol, as initially indicated by the A sample analysis. Salbutamol is banned under the IOC list of prohibited substances and methods, upon which the ERC anti-doping programme is based.

Sheahan, who was recalled from Ireland's summer tour to Australia, Tonga and Samoa when the incident first came to light, was thought to have incorrectly filled out a form before the start of the European Cup, omitting to tick a box that informed the governing body he was taking a prescribed drug that is on the banned substances list to treat his asthma.

Sheahan uses a Ventolin inhaler to control his asthma and this has been recorded on anti-doping paperwork throughout his career. He did fill out the post-match form correctly but not the one before the start of the tournament. The central issue in the case may be the levels of salbutamol found in the samples.

The three-man independent judicial tribunal comprising Prof Lorne Crerar (chairman), Dr Donald MacLeod and Peter Brown arrived in Dublin yesterday morning to conduct the hearing at ERC headquarters. It was scheduled to start at 10.30 a.m. but did not begin until over an hour later.

Excluding time allotted for a lunch break, the panel spent roughly three and a half hours hearing the submissions from Sheahan and his legal team of Paul Derham, John Lucey and Gerry Tynan. The judicial panel then decided it was appropriate to adjourn any decision until later in the week, which suggests the issues may be more complex than originally outlined.

ERC has strict guidelines in terms of dealing with any drug issues, notably that the tribunal must consist of a senior legal practitioner, who shall act as chairman, a senior medical practitioner with knowledge of doping in sport and the IOC anti-doping code and an eminent former rugby player or administrator.

The governing body of the competition ran a drug testing programme at a quarter of the 79 games in last season's competition, where two players from each side were randomly selected to provide samples. ERC uses the internationally renowned, Swedish-based sample gathering agency, IDTM, to conduct its tests.

The 13-time capped Irish hooker was accompanied to the hearing by his father, Frank, mother Catherine and a Dublin-based brother, Patrick. Also present were Munster coach Alan Gaffney and press officer Pat Geraghty. The Sheahan family were expected to return to Cork last night.

ERC released the following statement: "The case of Frankie Sheahan, the Munster hooker who was charged by ERC with a doping offence following the Heineken Cup semi-final between Toulouse and Munster on 26 April, 2003, was heard by an independent judicial tribunal, consisting of Professor Lorne Crerar (chairman), Dr Donald MacLeod and Peter Brown, at the ERC offices in Dublin today (Monday, July 7th, 2003).

"Following today's sitting, at which the judicial tribunal heard all the submissions lodged, the judicial tribunal reserved its decision. It expects to issue that decision before the end of the week."

The bitter feud between Australia's players and their governing body over World Cup contracts ended peacefully yesterday. The dispute was resolved when the Rugby Union Players Association (RUPA) decided not to continue legal proceedings against the Australian Rugby Union (ARU).

RUPA had begun legal proceedings against the ARU over the terms and conditions in the International Rugby Board's (IRB) participation agreement for the World Cup in Australia which starts in October. But RUPA agreed not to pursue the case when the ARU presented a revised contract and the promise of Aus$10,000 (approx €6,000) and increased match fees for every player who signed the contract.

The chief executive of the English Rugby Players' Association, Damian Hopley, said he was confident Clive Woodward's players would also sign the participation agreement within a couple of weeks.