French medical expert claims club players using cocaine to boost recovery training
Rugby NewsTuesday, 28 February 2017 at 20:37
A leading French rugby medical expert has claimed that cocaine is being regularly used by players weekly to help recovery sessions early in their sporting week.
In a report by news agency
AFP, Christian Bagate, a former head of the French Rugby Federation medical commission, spoke of "the Monday-Tuesday-Wednesday corticosteroid-cocaine cocktail".
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If it is taken on Monday, the body can quickly eliminate traces, ahead of any weekend doping tests.
Bagate said cocaine had "a stimulating, non-inhibiting property".
And Xavier Bigard, scientific advisor to the French Anti-Doping Agency, added his thoughts, telling AFP: "Cocaine boosts performance by increasing alertness, reactivity and aggressiveness."
Toulon rugby club owner Mourad Boudjellal also voiced fears the French Top 14 championship had a cocaine problem.
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"It's only my opinion, but I have the impression that in certain clubs and among many players, coke is very popular," Boudjellal told AFP.
"We've had the alcohol stage, now we're at another one. We can't support that. That needs to stop."
Boudjellal has suspended O'Connor for a week as the controversy plays out.
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