Former Georgia Captain Banned 11 Years for Sample Tampering

Former Georgia rugby captain Merab Sharikadze has received an 11-year ban from the sport after a joint investigation by World Rugby and the World Anti-Doping Agency uncovered a scheme involving urine sample substitution and advance warnings of drug tests.

The sanctions, announced following the probe known as Operation Obsidian, also affect five other Georgian players and a former team official. Giorgi Chkoidze faces a six-year ban, Lasha Khmaladze, Otar Lashkhi and Miriani Modebadze each received three-year suspensions, and Lasha Lomidze was banned for nine months. Nutsa Shamatava, Georgia Rugby's former chief medical officer, has been suspended for nine years.

All six players were sanctioned for using or attempting to use a prohibited method, as well as tampering or attempting to tamper with doping samples. Sharikadze and Khmaladze faced additional penalties for complicity or attempted complicity. Several of the players, including Sharikadze, Khmaladze and Lashkhi, competed for Georgia at the 2023 Rugby World Cup. Sharikadze and Modebadze also played in Georgia's victory at the 2024 Rugby Europe Championship. Four of the players, including Sharikadze and Chkoidze, participated...