A Dunedin-based rugby player has been banned for four years after admitting purchasing performance-enhancing drugs.
The ban came after NZ Customs intercepted a package addressed to Carlin Wilkinson-Ballantine in February that was found to contain clenbuterol and tamoxifen.
A Sport Integrity Commission press release said Wilkinson-Ballantine, who was named as a member of the Dunedin Rugby Football Club on the Otago Rugby website in June, admitted buying clenbuterol, but denied purchasing tamoxifen.
Clenbuterol and tamoxifen are banned in sports at all times under anti-doping rules. The former is an anabolic agent and has no approved medical use, but is used in a doping context to reduce body fat and gain muscle mass. Tamoxifen is a hormone and metabolic modulated, used medically to treat types of breast cancer, but to counter the side effects of steroid use in a doping context.
Commission CEO Rebecca Rolls said New Zealand’s anti-doping rules were to protect health and the right to fair play.