In December 2016 the South African Institute for Drugfree Sport (SAIDS) has reported an anti-doping rule violation against the rugby player Brendan Coetzer after his sample tested positive for the prohibited substances 19-norandrosterone and 19-noretiocholanolone (Nandrolone). After notification a provisional suspension was ordered. The Athlete filed a statement in his defence and he was heard for the SAIDS Doping Hearing Panel.
The Athlete gave a prompt admission and denied that the substances were used for enhancing his sport performance. He stated that recommended by a friend at the gym he had used Deca-Durabolin (Nandrolone) in 2016 in order to gain weight and to recover from a hamstring injury. When he started to play rugby he stopped using the product a week before the first competition in October 2016. The Athlete asserted that he was unaware that the product was prohibited in sport and in the past he never had received any anti-doping education.
The Panel finds that the Athlete didn’t produce any evidence in support of statement, he failed to establish how the prohibited substances entered his system nor did he demonstrate that these substances didn’t enhance his performance in any way.
Considering the Athlete’s negligence and prompt admission in this case the Doping Hearing Panel decides on 20 March 2017 to impose a 4 year period of ineligibility on the Athlete starting on the date of the sample collection, i.e. on 8 October 2016.
