Welsh rugby union player Finley Evans receives four-year ban for Anti-Doping Rule Violations
Welsh rugby union player Finley Evans has been banned from all sport for four years following Anti-Doping Rule Violations (ADRVs) for the Presence and Use of a Prohibited Substance.
On 12 December 2023, UK Anti-Doping (UKAD) collected a urine Sample from Mr Evans, Out-of-Competition, at a Llandovery RFC training session. Analysis of Mr Evans’ urine Sample detected ostarine, a selective androgen receptor modulator (SARM), which is designed to have similar effects to testosterone. Ostarine is banned in sport at all times under the World Anti-Doping Agency’s Prohibited List.
UKAD notified Mr Evans of the alleged ADRVs and provisionally suspended him from sport. In response, Mr Evans alleged that the ostarine came to be in his system by way of a contaminated supplement.
UKAD subsequently charged Mr Evans with ADRVs for the Presence and Use of a Prohibited Substance. Mr Evans admitted the ADRVs but disputed the Consequences, including 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 legal submissions, the case was heard before a tribunal of the NADP. During those proceedings, Mr Evans accepted that he could not prove how ostarine came to be in his system, but asserted that he believed one of the supplements he had taken prior to providing the urine Sample was contaminated. The NADP tribunal concluded that Mr Evans had not established the source of ostarine in his Sample, and therefore could not reduce the asserted period of Ineligibility. The NADP imposed a four-year ban from all sport on Mr Evans.
Mr Evans is entitled to credit for the time he spent provisionally suspended, so his ban is deemed to have commenced on 19 January 2024 (the date his provisional suspension was imposed) and will expire at 23:59 on 18 January 2028.
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 Evans was notified by UKAD that he may have committed a violation of the UK Anti-Doping Rules and was provisionally suspended on 19 January 2024.
Today’s announcement is made in accordance with the applicable anti-doping rules, following the expiry of appeal rights for UKAD, the Athlete, and the applicable National Governing Body and/or International Federation.
The National Anti-Doping Panel is the United Kingdom’s independent tribunal responsible for adjudicating anti-doping disputes in sport. It is operated by Sport Resolutions and is entirely independent of UK Anti-Doping who is responsible for investigating, charging, and prosecuting cases before the NADP.
