2 OHL players suspended for doping violations
Two Ontario Hockey League players have each been suspended for eight games because of doping violations, even though officials believe they unknowingly took banned substances.
Plymouth Whalers centre Alex Aleardi and Saginaw Spirit defenceman Ryan O'Connor tested positive for the stimulant methylhexaneamine in November. The World Anti-Doping Agency added the substance to its banned list in 2009.
"We are completely satisfied that the players used a supplement which they had purchased over the counter at a local retail outlet and had no knowledge that it contained a stimulant," CHL president David Branch said Friday in a statement.
The CHL, which includes the Western, Ontario and Quebec major leagues, began league-wide testing during the 2006-07 season. The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League had already been conducting drug tests for two seasons as a pilot project.
Aleardi and O'Connor are the first OHL players suspended under the anti-doping program.
A first-time offence brings an automatic suspension of eight games, a second offence a 25-game ban and a third offence a two year suspension. Players are subject to testing by the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport during the pre-season, regular reason and playoffs.
Methylhexaneamine is not an ingredient in medications licensed by Health Canada but is in some nutritional supplements that athletes take to build muscle or to replenish themselves after a workout.
"Athletes who choose to use supplements must be very careful about the source and purpose of their products," CCES head Paul Melia said.
"Under CHL anti-doping rules, athletes are strictly liable for any substance found in their doping control sample, regardless of how it got there."
Aleardi and O'Connor aren't the only athletes who have been tripped up by methylhexaneamine.
South African rugby players Bjorn Basson and Chiliboy Ralepelle have a hearing later this month in Cape Town because they tested positive for it during the Springboks' tour of Britain and Ireland last year.
The Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority reported late last year nine athletes, including some who competed in the Commonwealth Games, also tested positive for the drug.
Nigerian runner Osayomi Oludamola was stripped of a gold medal in the women's 100 metres at the Commonwealth Games after she tested positive for methylhexaneamine.