JUST IN | Chiliboy Ralepelle loses appeal against 8-year doping ban

Springbok hooker Chiliboy Ralepelle has lost his appeal against his eight-year doping ban.

The former Sharks and Springbok hooker received the suspension from the South African Institute for Drug-Free Sport (SAIDS) after being found guilty of taking anabolic agent Zeranol.

LEGAL TEAM ALLEGDED MULTIPLE INACCURACIES

It was the third time in a 10-year period of his career that Ralepelle had tested positive for a banned substance.

The 34-year-old opted to appeal his latest suspension, with his legal team alleging that there were multiple inaccuracies in the findings and procedural failures.

However, SAIDS announced on Thursday that an Independent Appeal Panel had upheld the eight-year ban.

Ralepelle played 25 Tests for the Springboks between 2006-2018.

‘Ralepelle tested positive for the banned anabolic agent, Zeranol, during a Sharks rugby training session on 17 January 2019,’ read a statement.

‘The athlete contested the doping charges in front of an Independent Doping Hearing Panel. This panel found the athlete guilty of the doping offence and took into account that it was his second doping offence within a 10-year period. The panel relied on the sanction’s framework in the World Anti-Doping Code that granted them the jurisdiction to hand down an eight-year ban from sport.

‘The athlete lodged an appeal against the ban and also the drug testing process that he was subjected to. An Independent Appeal Panel heard the grounds for appeal. The Appeal Panel found that the panel that heard the hearing, in the first instance, had not erred in their application of the sanction’s framework in the World Anti-Doping Code.

‘The Appeal Panel therefore upheld the original sanction of eight years. Mr Ralepelle’s ban from sport is backdated to 17 January 2019 for eight years.

‘If the athlete does not accept the decision, he may seek relief at the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Switzerland.’