Welsh rugby union player Bevan Jay receives four-year ban for Anti-Doping Rule Violations
Welsh rugby union player Bevan Jay has been banned from sport for a period of four years following Anti-Doping Rule Violations (ADRVs) for the Presence and Use of a Prohibited Substance.
On 11 July 2023, UK Anti-Doping (UKAD) collected a urine Sample from Mr Jay, Out-of-Competition, following a training session with Ebbw Vale Rugby Football Club. Analysis of Mr Jay’s Sample confirmed the Presence of ostarine, a SARM (selective androgen receptor modulator) which is designed to have similar effects to testosterone. Ostarine is a non-Specified Substance that is banned in sport at all times under the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Prohibited List.
UKAD notified Mr Jay that he may have committed ADRVs for the Presence and Use of a Prohibited Substance and provisionally suspended him. Mr Jay responded to the notification, admitting the ADRVs, however he alleged that the ostarine came to be in his system by way of a contaminated supplement.
UKAD subsequently charged Mr Jay with ADRVs for the Presence and Use of a Prohibited Substance. Mr Jay reiterated that he admitted the ADRVs but disputed the four-year period of Ineligibility asserted by UKAD.
The case was referred to the independent National Anti-Doping Panel (‘NADP’) to determine the Consequences.
Following the exchange of evidence and submissions, the matter was heard before a tribunal of the NADP. During those proceedings, Mr Jay accepted that he could not prove how the Prohibited Substance came to be in his system, but asserted that he believed one of the supplements he had taken prior to providing the Sample was contaminated. Mr Jay adduced no independent evidence to support his contamination theory. The NADP tribunal concluded that Mr Jay’s contaminated supplement theory did not withstand scrutiny and ‘amounted to no more than speculation about how ostarine came to be present in his system’. Given Mr Jay was unable to establish the source of ostarine in his Sample, The NADP tribunal was unable to reduce the applicable period of Ineligibility prescribed in the rules and imposed a four-year ban from sport on Mr Jay.
Mr Jay is entitled to credit for the time he spent provisionally suspended, so his ban is deemed to have commenced on 16 August 2023 (the date his provisional suspension started) and will expire on 15 August 2027.
The NADP Decision in Mr Jay’s case is available to read below.
