Sports

Gabe Hamlin: Ex-Wigan Warriors prop gets two-year ban from Ukad for cocaine use


Gabe Hamlin was in the second year of a two-year contract with Wigan at the time of his positive test

Ex-Wigan player Gabe Hamlin has been banned by UK Anti-Doping for two years after testing positive for cocaine.

The 23-year-old failed the test following Warriors’ Super League game with Leeds Rhinos on 8 February 2019.

He maintained that the consumption of cocaine was not intentional and occurred when he kissed a woman he met through an online dating application.

Wigan said that Hamlin was subsequently sacked last July but have “offered him rehabilitation assistance”.

Hamlin, whose ban will run until 7 February 2021 having been backdated to the failed test, was in the second year of a two-year contract at the time.

After seeking expert advice, Ukad “did not accept” the version of events given by Hamlin, but also said that “on the balance of probabilities” his use of cocaine was out of competition and not intended to be performance-enhancing.

“Mr Hamlin asserts that on the evening of 7 February 2019 (the night before sample collection) he was at his home with a woman he had met through an online dating application,” explained Ukad in its report.

“Mr Hamlin indicates that he and the woman kissed during the course of the evening from around 10:30pm.

“Mr Hamlin maintains he did not consume cocaine or see the woman consuming it; he suggests that she appeared ‘very chatty and visited the bathroom several times’ and that he discovered white powder in his bathroom the following morning (though he did not presume this to be cocaine at that time).

“Professor Kim Wolff, having considered Mr Hamlin’s account, was of the opinion that it ‘does not stand up to scrutiny’.”

Hamlin, who joined from South Sydney Rabbitohs in October 2017, returned to his native Australia after originally being suspended by the Rugby Football League last April.

“Cocaine is a dangerous drug with significant health risks, which has no place in sport,” said Ukad director of operations Pat Myhill.

“Athletes are solely responsible for what is in their system, regardless of how they claim it got there and whether there was an intention to cheat or not. It is quite simply not worth the risk.”



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