Rugby rocked by huge drugs scandal as six players charged and scheme uncovered
WADA's president said the findings will "send shockwaves" through rugby, calling the scheme "outrageous"
Six Georgian international rugby players and one member of support personnel have been found to have violated anti-doping rules following a major joint-investigation between the World Anti-Doping Agency and World Rugby.
WADA and World Rugby have issued statements confirming that five instances of sample substitution occurred between 2019 and 2023. The joint-operation, titled Operation Obsidian, looked into claims that players had been engaging in "sample substitution in blatant contravention of the rules".
Sample substitution—the act of replacing an athlete's urine or blood sample with another—is a severe anti-doping rule violation, classified as Tampering (Class M2) under the WADA Prohibited List.
World Rugby confirmed on Friday that the investigation was triggered when irregularities in urine samples were identified by World Rugby’s athlete passport management programme.
According to World Rugby's statement, six players and a member of support staff have been charged and sanctioned "in relation to an orchestrated scheme involving recreational drugs and sample substitution".
However, the full discplinary process has yet to be completed - with the outcomes and sanctions against the seven individuals yet to be published.
In their own statement, WADA president Witold Banka suggested there could be further sanctions to follow in Georgian sport. By way of follow-up, WADA has already extracted collected samples from other Georgian athletes in different sports.
“What has been happening in Georgian rugby is outrageous and will send shockwaves through Georgian sport and government, as well as the global game of rugby," said Banka. "I want to thank WADA’s independent Intelligence & Investigations team for their diligence and expertise in relentlessly pursuing this operation with determination and professionalism.
"I also praise World Rugby’s commitment to uncovering the facts and its willingness to work collaboratively with WADA to deliver this strong result for rugby.
“This is not the end of the story as further investigation is now going on deeper into Georgian sport. WADA has brought Operation Obsidian’s findings to the attention of the Government of Georgia to address the issues in the Georgian Anti-Doping Agency.
"As the next steps are being considered, clearly, WADA has lost confidence in GADA’s anti-doping program and wholesale changes must now be made by the relevant authorities.”
WADA Director, Intelligence & Investigations, Günter Younger, said: “Operation Obsidian highlights the complex nature of sample substitution cases, from the legal, investigative, scientific, and forensic points of view, which require extensive expertise to successfully reveal and corroborate. Substantial investigative powers are essential to address this type of ADRV properly and effectively.
“I thank our colleagues from World Rugby. Significant financial and human resources were dedicated to investigating these cases, including through the collection of reference samples, the transfer of samples to specific laboratories, and the conducting of numerous further analyses.
"World Rugby’s long-term storage program proved instrumental in substantiating the overall investigations. This case clearly demonstrates the critical importance of storing samples over time.”
Last year, former Georgia captain Merab Sharikadze claimed he was facing a six-year ban from rugby for sample substitution in an interview as he sought to launch a new career in mixed martial arts.
“My sample, so to say, was used instead of other players’ samples,” Sharikadze told Setanta Sports Georgia.
However, at the time, neither World Rugby, WADA or the Georgian Rugby Union commented on his claims.