In May 2018 the Rugby Football Union (RFU) has reported an anti-doping rule violation against the rugby player Daniel Well after his sample tested positive for the prohibited substances Ostarine and Methylhexaneamine (dimethylpentylamine). After notification a provisional suspension was ordered. The Athlete filed a statement in his defence and he was heard for the National Anti-Doping Panel.
The Athlete accepted the test results, denied the intentional use and asserted that he researched the ingredients of this supplement before using. He believed that only his use of contaminated supplement must have caused the positive test result. However he could not demonstrate this with evidence due to he could not afford the costs of analysis of this supplement in a WADA Accredited laboratory. Here the Rugby Football Union (RFU) declined to pay for laboratory testing of this supplement.
The RFU contended that the Athlete failed to establish with evidence that the supplement in question was the source of the positive test, nor that the violation was not intentional and neither how the prohibited substance entered his system.
The Panel points to several unsatisfactorily features of the Athlete’s evidence and that only the supplement in question was the source. The Panel finds that the Athlete is not a cheat but concludes that he failed to establish that the violation was not intentional. Nor did he demonstrate with evidence that the source of the prohibited substances was a contaminated supplement. The Panel considers the Athlete’s conduct and his degree of fault in this case and deems that there are no grounds for No Significant Fault or Negligence.
Therefore the National Anti-Doping Panel decides on 28 September 2018 to impose a 4 year period of ineligibility on the Athlete starting on the date of the provisional suspension, i.e. on 18 May 2018.
