SARU has announced that it has appointed a Judicial Committee to investigate the doping charges against Blue Bulls players Chilliboy Ralepele and Bjorn Basson at a hearing in Cape Town on 25 January.
The pair were provisionally suspended from all rugby activities after returning positive tests for a banned stimulant, methylhexaneamine, after the Boks played Ireland in Dublin last year. The B-samples of both players confirmed the positive result and the IRB subsequently handed the matter over to the South African body for further investigation and sentencing.
The Bulls will be hoping for a positive outcome for both players, with maximum lenience given the inadvertent nature of the abuse. The unavailability of both will have a serious adverse effect on the Super 14 champions’ depth as they aim to capture the Super Rugby trophy in 2011.
The committee will be chaired by Advocate Jannie Lubbe, with Dr George van Dugteren and Advocate Rob Stelzner completing the triumvirate.
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Should we launch a protest action outside court??
@Original Champion (Comment 1) : to protest what?
@war1 (Comment 2) : Toy-toy(ing) outside courts is a social event nowadays
@Jarson (AddicteD) (Comment 3) : who knows… though doubtful that bulls fans will go to Cape Town to show their support in this instance unless there are some still left in CT after holidays
can’t help but feeling a bit sorry for these 2.
@rekinek (Comment 5) : just close your eyes then and imagine them with Bulls jerseys on…
did that help?
just kidding, i hope they can resolve this as quickly as possible. Basson should make the WC group imo.
Were they not given supplements that contained methylhexaneamine while traning with the Boks? I heard a rumour last year that it might be the case.
@Farlington (Comment 7) : nobody seems to know what the story is… it’s in the Boks’ interests (or, rather, the interests of the Bok medical team) for the players to have taken the substance “of their own accord”, whether knowingly or not. If this is in something that was given to the whole squad, Craig Roberts’ position will surely become untenable.