Rugby league player Thomas Minns, then of Hull Kingston Rovers RFC, has been suspended from all sport for a period of 16 months following an Anti-Doping Rule Violation (ADRV). Mr Minns tested positive for the presence of the prohibited substance benzoylecgonine (a metabolite of cocaine), following an in-competition test on 15 March 2018, after a match against Huddersfield Giants RFC. Mr Minns was charged with an ADRV pursuant to Article 2.1 of the Anti-Doping Rules – “Presence of a Prohibited Substance or its Metabolites or Markers in an Athlete’s Sample”.

UKAD’s Chief Executive, Nicole Sapstead, said: “All athletes must adhere to the principle of strict liability, regardless of whether or not they are deliberately seeking to gain an unfair sporting advantage. It is an athlete’s responsibility to know what substances are in their system, and they must be aware that even if a substance is not banned out-of-competition, there is always the possibility of it remaining in their body for a period of time and it being detected in-competition.”

The period of ineligibility shall apply from the date of sample collection (15 March 2018) until midnight on 14 July 2019. To read the full judgement, please click here, or click here to download.

• This media release was published by UK Anti-Doping (UKAD) on 9 January 2019. Click here for the original.