Sport Integrity Australia acknowledges the decision of the National Rugby League (NRL) to impose a one-month ban on athlete Brent Naden for the presence of metabolites of a prohibited substance. Mr Naden, a rugby league player who competed for Penrith Panthers in the NRL competition, returned an Adverse Analytical Finding (AAF) from an in-competition doping control test after the NRL Grand Final on 25 October 2020.

His sample was analysed at the Australian Sports Drug Testing Laboratory, part of the National Measurement Institute, which detected the presence of Benzoylecgonine and Methylecgonine (metabolites of Cocaine). Mr Naden was sanctioned for the anti-doping rule violation (ADRV) under the 2021 World Anti-Doping Code, with the decision and imposition of sanction coming into effect on 1 January 2021 (when the 2021 World Anti-Doping Code commenced).

The NRL imposed a one-month ban on Mr Naden commencing on 1 December 2020, consistent with Article 10.2.4.1 of the 2021 World Anti-Doping Code (Substances of Abuse). Mr Naden was ineligible to participate in any sports that have adopted a World Anti-Doping Code compliant anti-doping policy until 1 January 2021.

• This media release was published by Sport Integrity Australia (SIA) on 2 March 2021. Click here for the original.