Welsh football player Jordan Cotterill serves three-month ban for Anti-Doping Rule Violation

Welsh football player Jordan Cotterill has served a three-month ban following an Anti-Doping Rule Violation (ADRV) for the Presence of a Prohibited Substance or its Metabolites or Markers.

Jordan Cotterill was tested by UK Anti-Doping (UKAD) In-Competition on 13 April 2024 at the JD Cymru Premier relegation play-off match between Barry Town United F.C. and Aberystwyth Town F.C. Analysis of Mr Cotterill’s urine Sample returned a positive test result for benzoylecgonine, a Metabolite of cocaine.

On 17 May 2024, UKAD notified Mr Cotterill that he may have committed ADRVs for the Presence and Use of a Prohibited Substance and provisionally suspended him. In response, Mr Cotterill admitted to ingesting cocaine Out-of-Competition during the evening of 10 April 2024. This account was reviewed by a scientific expert, who concluded that it was more likely than not that Mr Cotterill’s last ingestion of cocaine took place Out-of-Competition.

Mr Cotterill was charged by UKAD on 22 July 2024 with an ADRV for the Presence of a Prohibited Substance or its Metabolites or Markers. He admitted the charge and accepted the three-month period of ineligibility asserted by UKAD. 

Recognising the time he spent provisionally suspended (effective from 17 May 2024), Mr Cotterill’s three-month period of ineligibility ended on 16 August 2024. At the time of this announcement, he is free to resume participating in sport.

Notes 

Technical terms and more information 
Please note, unless otherwise indicated or the context otherwise requires, capitalised terms used in this announcement have the meaning given to them in the UK Anti-Doping Rules and/or World Anti-Doping Code. 

Mr Cotterill was notified by UKAD that he may have committed a violation of the UK Anti-Doping Rules and was provisional suspended on 17 May 2024.

On bans from sport involving cocaine

Shorter bans of three months are available in such cases involving cocaine if the athlete can prove that the substance was ingested Out-of-Competition and in a context unrelated to sport performance. These bans can also be reduced further to one month if the athlete completes a UKAD approved rehabilitation course.

In-Competition and Out-of-Competition

Out-of-Competition includes all tests that do not take place at competitions. These can occur at any time or place - during training as well as outside of training.

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) define In-Competition testing as the period commencing 11.59pm on the day before a competition, through to the end of such competition and the sample-collection process related to such competition.