Out-of-competition testing of all World Cup squads has already begun as tournament organisers implement the most comprehensive anti-doping program yet at rugby union’s quadrennial showpiece.
About half a dozen French players were tested at random a day after arriving in Brisbane this week and International Rugby Board anti-doping manager Tim Ricketts said about half of all players in national squads would have been tested before the tournament kicks off next Friday.
More than 570 tests will have been conducted by the November 22 final, Ricketts said. With 20 nations competing and each squad containing 30 players, the odds of getting tested are extremely high.
”We’ve done 195 tests in the past three months on the 20 participating unions, so that’s about 10 tests per union,” Ricketts told the tournament website rugbyworldcup.com website.
So far, all results returned had been negative.
During the tournament, two players from each team in each match will be selected at random for testing. The tests are to detect any use of banned performance-enhancing drugs including steroids and endurance-enhancing erythropoietin (EPO).
The tests will be conducted by the Australian Sports Drug Agency and analysed at an IOC-accredited laboratory in Sydney. – Sapa-AP