Facts
The International Rugby Board (IRB) allege Duncan Murray (the player) for a violation of the Anti-Doping Rules. On 29 April 2011, following a match in the Asian 5 Nations Tournament between the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Kazakhstan, in which he played, the Player provided a urine sample for doping control purposes. Following analysis, the Player’s sample was found to contain a methylhexaneamine (MHA), a prohibited substance listed in the 2011 Prohibited List under the World Anti-Doping Code under S6 (Stimulants).
History
The Player’s case was that the MHA had entered his body through his taking three or four sips of a drink containing the supplement Jack3d. The drink was taken shortly before the match, from a bottle that belonged to another (Quinn) and was mixed by Quinn. His ingestion of MHA was inadvertent in that he did not know at the time of consumption (1) what supplement was used to mix the drink nor (2) that the supplement, and therefore the drink, contained MHA. His reason for using the drink was not for enhancing his sport performance but because of the fact it was hot and he was thirsty.
Decision
On 29 August 2011 the Board Juridical Committee (BJC) issued a written, reasoned decision (the “Decision”). A majority of the members of the BJC found that the Player had failed to establish any basis for the elimination or reduction of the presumptive period of ineligibility of two years for a first anti-doping rule violation involving the Presence of Prohibited Substance in a Player’s Sample.1 Accordingly, the BJC imposed a period of ineligibility of two years, commencing on the date the Player’s provisional suspension took effect, namely 28 May 2011.
The Post-Hearing Review Body (PHRB) directs that the decision of the BJC on the sanction applicable to the finding, that the Player committed an anti-doping rule violation on 29 April 2011 by reason of the presence in his urine of methylhexaneamine, should be set aside and replaced with a sanction of 12 months Ineligibility, commencing on 28 May 2011 and concluding on (but inclusive of) 27 May 2012.
