World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and World Rugby have exposed a huge scandal involving the Georgian national rugby team, in which six players and one team official were caught in an “orchestrated scheme involving recreational drugs and sample substitution”. The names of the players and the official, who have been sanctioned, were not revealed, but it has shaken the world of rugby two days before Georgia is set to play for their ninth European Championship title in a row.
The investigation launched by WADA and World Rugby started in 2023, when irregularities were found in urine samples after men’s Rugby World Cup 2023, in which Georgia finished at bottom of their group, losing three games and drawing another.
The investigation, under the name “Operation Obsidian”, found that those six players swapped their urine samples: Georgia’s national anti-doping agency (GADA) tipped off players about upcoming tests, and doping control officers failed to check the tests were carried correctly between 2019 and 2023.
WADA president Witold Banka has said that “what has been happening in Georgian rugby is outrageous and will send shockwaves through Georgian sport and government, as well as the global game. This is not the end of the story as further investigation is now going on deeper into Georgian sport”.
While it is not known which sanction will be given to the Georgian Rugby Union, their men’s team are still expected to play their Rugby European Championships final in Madrid on Sunday against Portugal. Only Rugby Europe would have the power to disqualify them, but it is not expected to happen in the next 48 hours, according to El PaÃs.
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