Nine Australians face doping bans

League player Paul Gallen doubts NRL players have been caught doping. Photo / Getty Images

Australian league forward Paul Gallen says he would be surprised to see any NRL players caught up in the doping scandal which has nine Australian athletes from unknown sports facing two-year bans.

The Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA) yesterday issued a warning to Australian athletes to be wary of what they were consuming after it was revealed nine athletes had tested positive to the banned stimulant methylhexaneamine, or DMAA.

ASADA fear some athletes may be taking the drug inadvertently, with the chemical found in body building and dietary supplements. There are suggestions it is also used in some party drugs.

Authorities have refused to divulge the names of the nine athletes to have returned positive tests or the sports they compete in, but Gallen said NRL players followed strict guidelines when it came to taking any supplements.

A News Limited report claimed NRL and AFL players may be amongst those to have tested positive, with the article also adding that authorities had refused to rule out any Commonwealth Games athletes.

"I don't know if any rugby league players would be taking it. I doubt it," Gallen said in Sydney. "We're highly regulated in what we take, all our clubs are guaranteed off the manufacturers what we're getting and we all take the same stuff.

"I don't think there would be too many blokes going out buying stuff over the counter and going off on their own bat and trying something different, it's probably too risky.

"We get drug tested probably as much as any athletes in the world so hopefully all of us are pretty good."

Nigerian runner Osayomi Oludamola lost her Commonwealth Games gold medal when she returned a positive test for DMAA, Oludamola having only been awarded the medal after Australian sprinter Sally Pearson was disqualified for for a false start in the women's 100m final.

ASADA chief executive officer Aurora Andruska said the spike in positive test results for the stimulant was a "timely reminder" to all athletes to use caution in checking the contents of supplements and other products they choose to use.

"ASADA wants to get the warning out to the Australian sporting community to be on the lookout for any supplement or product containing methylhexaneamine." she said. "Methylhexaneamine is appearing more and more in doping test results and has been linked to a number of popular supplements.

"Australian athletes must be very careful when using any supplement because, under the World Anti-Doping Code's policy of strict liability, athletes are responsible for any substance found in their body."

Meanwhile, the IOC holds the "moral high ground" in the argument over a doping rule that prevents American runner LaShawn Merritt from defending his 400m title at the 2012 London Games, a senior Olympic official said.

Merritt was banned for 21 months this week after testing positive for a banned substance found in a male enhancement product. Although his ban expires next summer, meaning he can compete in the IAAF-controlled world championships, the Beijing gold medallist is ineligible to run in London the following year.

An IOC rule bars any athlete with a doping penalty of at least six months from competing in the next Olympics.

The American arbitrators who banned Merritt contested the IOC rule.

They said that because the IOC agrees to follow the world anti-doping code, it must adhere to their decision, which says barring Merritt from London was an inappropriate and extra punishment.

The matter could wind up before the Court of Arbitration for Sport, an important test case for one of the cornerstones of the International Olympic Committee's anti-doping efforts. IOC officials said they were confident the rule would stand up to any challenge.

"While we regret when a distinguished athlete like LaShawn Merritt does this, I'm afraid he'll have to be responsible for his own actions," Reedie said on the sidelines of a meeting of national Olympic committees.

- Agencies