France v England prediction: Les Bleus to avenge \u2018humiliation\u2019 and retain Six Nations title under Paris lights<\/a><\/p>\n\u201cThe investigation was triggered when irregularities in urine samples were identified by World Rugby\u2019s athlete passport management programme, covering an extended period of time prior to Men\u2019s Rugby World Cup 2023 in France. World Rugby alerted WADA immediately and the two bodies worked closely together throughout complex and extensive parallel investigations which featured targeted player testing and DNA analysis by World Rugby, including on historical samples held via World Rugby\u2019s long-term storage programme.<\/p>\n
\u201cSix players and a member of team support personnel have been charged and sanctioned in relation to an orchestrated scheme involving recreational drugs and sample substitution (a practice prohibited by the WADA Code and the World Rugby Anti-Doping Rules).<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile noting WADA\u2019s public update, including its parallel investigation relating to the Georgian Anti-Doping Agency, in accordance with the World Rugby Anti-Doping Rules, the international federation is currently unable to make any further comment until the full disciplinary (results management) process has been completed and the outcomes and sanctions are published.<\/p>\n
\u201cWorld Rugby takes all anti-doping matters extremely seriously and is an unwavering champion of clean sport.\u201d<\/p>\n
Commenting on the investigation, WADA President, Witold Ba\u0144ka, said: \u201cWhat 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to thank WADA\u2019s independent Intelligence & Investigations team for their diligence and expertise in relentlessly pursuing this operation with determination and professionalism. I also praise World Rugby\u2019s commitment to uncovering the facts and its willingness to work collaboratively with WADA to deliver this strong result for rugby.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is not the end of the story as further investigation is now going on deeper into Georgian sport. WADA has brought Operation Obsidian\u2019s findings to the attention of the Government of Georgia to address the issues in the Georgian Anti-Doping Agency.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs the next steps are being considered, clearly, WADA has lost confidence in GADA\u2019s anti-doping program and wholesale changes must now be made by the relevant authorities.\u201d<\/p>\n
READ MORE: Where France are the \u2018most lethal\u2019 team in the world as Paul Gustard issues \u2018dicing with danger\u2019 warning to England ahead of \u2018future-defining\u2019 game<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"World Rugby have confirmed six Georgian players, as well as one coach, have been found in breach of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":537988,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,6782,818,1182,44,760,85,12907],"class_list":["post-537987","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-georgia","tag-home-page","tag-internationals","tag-news","tag-rugby","tag-sports","tag-world-rugby"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/537987","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=537987"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/537987\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/537988"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=537987"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=537987"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=537987"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}