Rugby: Elite players risk bans under new drug rules

Some of the world's leading rugby players could potentially face lengthy suspensions after missing drugs tests under the World Anti-Doping Authority's (Wada) controversial Whereabouts system.

Although he would not disclose the amount of missed tests or who was involved, International Rugby Players' Association chief executive Rob Nichol said he was aware of current internationals who had "inadvertently" missed tests. Belgian tennis player Yanina Wickmayer was recently banned from the sport for one year for three times failing to report her whereabouts for testing.

Nichol said there was no question of the players involved doping, or that they had deliberately missed tests, but "the players' administration of the system had not been up to scratch".

The situation has highlighted IRPA's frustration at the way the Registered Testing Pool, the most onerous element of Wada's Whereabouts system, has been implemented.

"As a body we fully support Wada, its objectives, the people responsible for implementing their programmes and the principle of keeping sport drug-free, but they have to get the balance right," Nichol said.

"There is an understandable amount of frustration at the way the programme has been implemented. It has been substandard. The introduction of the new Whereabouts requirements has damaged the momentum and ... reputation of the anti-doping movement."

Nichol has been inundated by complaints from some of his members, frustrated at having to allocate an hour every day of the year where they can be found in a specific location. One of the major issues is that it has not been implemented uniformly across codes, or across countries.

"When Wada introduced this, some of the national drug-free agencies applied it more rigidly than others," Nichol said.

Drug Free Sport New Zealand has placed the entire All Blacks squad into the Registered Testing Pool, just as UK Sport has done with the Wales, Scotland and England teams.

Nichol, who is also head of the New Zealand Rugby Players' Association, said the Registered Testing Pool (RTP) should be reserved only for athletes that have been proven difficult to locate because they have missed tests under the more general Whereabouts requirements that most athletes are subject to.

Wada director general David Howman was less sympathetic, saying it was up to the national anti-doping agencies and the sports themselves to determine who went into the RTP.

Nichol said that was all very well but those guidelines were not made clear enough and they have ended up with a situation where Drug Free Sport NZ had applied the system more rigidly than others and "they should not be criticised for that because they are extremely professional".

"The issue is, the guidelines for who should qualify for the RTP were not clear enough and need to be improved.

"This is an issue that needs to be addressed but the answer is not to go placing more teams and players in the Registered Testing Pool to balance the scales," Nichol said. "The answer is in ensuring those teams and players who are currently in an RTP without good reason or basis are removed."

Nichol has outlined his concerns in correspondence to the IRB, which is currently considering changes to its anti-doping regulations.