Anti-doping laws could stop Jarryd Hayne from competing at the Rio Olympics, according to former ASADA boss Richard Ings.
Hayne quit the NFL on Monday morning to attempt to earn selection with Fiji in rugby sevens at the Games.
However Ings said World Rugby rules require players to be in a registered testing pool for six months to be eligible to compete at sanctioned competitions.
And according to the former ASADA chief, Hayne’s stint in the NFL does not fit the requirements.
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» Jarryd Hayne retires from NFL – wants to play Olympic Sevens
» INGS: Hayne’s Olympic dream may be over before it began
“If Jarryd Hayne had been playing in WADA compliant sport he would have grounds to reduce the 6 months,” Ings tweeted on Monday morning.
“But NFL is PED badlands. No chance.”
Ultimately, the decision on whether Hayne would be cleared to play will come down to the International Rugby Board, while the former NRL star could appeal any decision which goes against him.
But Ings believes the restriction is a vital one.
“The six-month return to competition rule is standard across most sports for athletes returning to international competition. And necessary,” Ings tweeted
“The rule equally applies to reinstatement or to new players. Sensibly it must or any NFL player could bulk up and play.”
Hayne’s hopes of being cleared to play should increase though given fellow NFL-convert Nate Ebner debuted for the United States at last month’s Singapore World Sevens tournament – just a month after he left the New England Patriots.
Ings, who was chief of ASADA for six years, also indicated similar rules apply to the NRL.
no one in particular
Roar Guru
Ings has zero credibility in the sports integrity area. There is a reason nobody employs him - he has no clue. He talks about drugs in sport, nearly every time he is wrong. He talks about match fixing and is almost always wrong. I made comments on here yesterday about Ings, but for some reason they didn't get through moderation
Sharminator
Roar Rookie
It seems to be a non issue … and Ings is just looking for some publicity … Have a look at the moniker on his twitter account .. “Making websites talk, drugs in sport, match fixing and calling tennis balls in or out.” He seems to be self obsessed nobody who just wants some headlines… As someoneelse mentioned, there is another former NFL player playing rugby 7s, Nate Ebner, is a professional NFL player with the Patriots … and was released by the Patriots in March this year to play rugby sevens for the USA. He played in both the Hong Kong and Singapore 7s without any stand down period, considering he played in the AFC Championship game on January 24, and played 15 games during the season. The agreeement for Ebner to play 7s only came in March … and I doubt he was involved in any WADA drug testing before he had permission to play rugby. Another precedent comes from retired rugby players returning to rugby without a six month standown period. There have been several examples of players called out of retirement, who have immediately returned to playing in both league and union (and other sports which are WADA compliant). SBS also recently published the following having talked to the Fijian Olympic Committee “The head of Fiji’s Olympic Committee said she could not speak about Hayne specifically but said their selection policies did not require athletes to go through an effective six month stand down period while they entered the testing programme prior to representing the country. “No (there is no requirement). Every athlete who becomes a squad member and then finally a Team Fiji member is aware that at some stage they could be randomly chosen to be drug tested,” FOC Secretary General Lorraine Mar told Reuters from Suva. “There is no criteria that they have to be tested a number of times. So that’s not a consideration, but the athlete needs to be aware they could be drug tested.” Mar said World Rugby could have rules about players being required to be available for drug testing before being allowed to compete. World Rugby’s Regulation 21, which deals with the anti-doping policy, does not mention a stand-down period for players returning to competition unless they have previously retired or are serving a ban and are in the “registered testing pool”. The registered testing pool is for players whose behaviour was considered ‘high risk’. Such players contemplating a return to competition are required to make themselves available for six months testing beforehand. Under Article 20 of the WADA code, the only requirement for athletes who have not been “regular members” of a sport — like Hayne — is that they make themselves available for testing and comply with the relevant whereabouts rules. A similar rule applies to National Olympic Committees. As soon as athletes are identified on their ‘long list’ of entrants for competition, they must be made available for testing.” Hayne will also obviously be tested (if chosen to play) at the London Sevens and any other competitons he plays in the following months, as well as any out of competitioin testing he may be chosen for. He has also said he is willing to volunteer for testing. Seems to be a non issue. Whether Hayne is good enough to make the Fijian team is another issue.