Former Wigan prop Gabriel Hamlin banned after cocaine test
Monday 3 February 2020 16:35, UK
Former Wigan prop Gabriel Hamlin has been given a two-year ban after testing positive for cocaine.
The 23-year-old former South Sydney forward was suspended by the Rugby Football League last April after being charged with a UK Anti-Doping (UKAD) violation and subsequently returned to his native Australia to be with his family.
UKAD says Hamlin provided a urine sample following Wigan's second Super League match of 2019 against Leeds at the DW Stadium in February which contained benzoylecgonine, a metabolite of cocaine.
Pat Myhill, UKAD director of operations, said: "Cocaine is a dangerous drug with significant health risks, which has no place in sport.
"This case is another example of a metabolite of cocaine resulting in an athlete receiving a ban from sport.
"We realise that the length of sanctions for this substance can vary between cases, this is because of the specific sanctions laid out in the Anti-Doping Rules.
"The independent expert witness in this case ruled out the possibility that ingestion took place during the in-competition period. This means that a possible four-year ban was reduced to two years.
"Athletes are solely responsible for what is in their system, regardless of how they claim it got there and whether there was an intention to cheat or not. It is quite simply not worth the risk."
Hamlin's ban will end on February 7, 2021. His contract with Wigan ran out at the end of last season.
