Lea tested positive for drostanolone and trenbolone in January
Tuesday 20 October 2020 14:47, UK
Rochdale forward Andrew Lea has been given a four-year ban after testing positive for steroid use.
The 28-year-old former Great Britain amateur international signed for the Betfred League 1 club last December but failed a doping test during pre-season training a month later.
UK Anti-Doping (UKAD) says it collected an out-of-competition urine sample from Lea at a Hornets training session on January 9 which returned adverse analytical findings for drostanolone and its metabolite and a metabolite of trenbolone.
Drostanolone and trenbolone are anabolic steroids which artificially improve athletic performance and are prohibited at all times.
UKAD says Lea acknowledged taking a product called 'TTM' but only to improve his physical appearance and that he understood it contained trenbolone and drostanolone but he did not know what those steroids were.
"Athletes have a responsibility to themselves, their fellow athletes and sport to ensure that they are adhering to the anti-doping rules in order to keep sport clean," UKAD director of operations Pat Myhill said.
"This includes double checking all products, supplements and medications for prohibited substances. It is not enough to say 'I didn't know they were steroids'.
"Athletes should familiarise themselves with the prohibited list each year and use Informed Sport and Global DRO to check their products before ingesting.
"The onus is on the athlete to know exactly what they are putting into their bodies at all times."
The suspension runs to January 8, 2024.
Lea captained National Conference League side Thatto Heath for three years until signing for Rochdale and scored a try in the Hornets' only league match before the season was suspended.
He toured Fiji in 2018 with the Great Britain open-age team and captained Lancashire in 2019.
