In bombshell news that came to light on Tuesday, World Rugby confirmed six members of the Georgia senior men’s 15s team and a member of support personnel have been sanctioned for involvement in urine sample substitution over an extended period prior to Men’s Rugby World Cup 2023.
Georgia are currently ranked 13th in the World Rugby rankings, and were one of the 24 teams to have qualified for the 2027 Rugby World Cup in Australia.
The Lelos secured their spot in February 2025 after reaching the semi-finals of the Rugby Europe Championship. This will be their seventh consecutive World Cup appearance, a streak that began back in 2003 (which was also hosted in Australia).
Georgia now hit with doping bombshell
The case relates to a concern sample substitution (“tampering or attempted tampering”), which is a practice prohibited by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Code and World Rugby Anti-Doping Regulation 21.
Anti-Doping Rule Violation Sanctions have been imposed against players Giorgi Chkoidze (six years), Lasha Khmaladze (three years), Merab Sharikadze (11 years), Miriani Modebadze (three years), Otar Lashkhi (three years), Lasha Lomidze (9 months), and Dr Nutsa Shamatava (nine years). These suspensions are backdated to include the provisional suspensions issued to all individuals upon charge and result in a complete suspension from all rugby activities.
Read a full summary of the sanctions here >>
A parallel investigation between World Rugby and WADA was triggered when irregularities in urine samples were identified by World Rugby’s athlete passport management programme, covering an extended historical period of time prior to Men’s Rugby World Cup 2023 in France.
World Rugby alerted WADA immediately and the two bodies worked closely together throughout complex and extensive parallel investigations which featured targeted player testing and DNA analysis by World Rugby, including on historical samples held via World Rugby’s long-term storage programme.
During the course of a large-scale investigation, World Rugby’s operating hypothesis was that the urine sample substitutions were conducted to conceal the use of performance-enhancing substances, however World Rugby’s extensive investigation has revealed no evidence to support this
In parallel, there was credible evidence to support the players’ assertions that the urine sample substitutions occurred to conceal the use of non-performance-enhancing substances (namely, cannabis and tramadol).
In addition to charges brought against the players and support personnel for offences under World Rugby Regulation 21, World Rugby also commissioned an independent enquiry into the actions of the Georgia Rugby Union to ensure that any potential involvement of the Union in the scheme was considered and addressed.
While the independent report details that there are no grounds for the Georgia Rugby Union having a case to answer under World Rugby Regulation 21, the fact that a number of players and staff wilfully failed to comply with their anti-doping obligations brings the game into disrepute under Regulation 18.5.
Having considered this recommendation, World Rugby issued a misconduct charge against the Georgia Rugby Union. The Union accepted the charge and agreed to a sanction including financial penalty along with a requirement to implement a roadmap of various reforms and measures in its anti-doping training and education to mitigate the risk of any future issues of this nature arising.
Shock news
World Rugby welcomes the Union’s proactive and open approach to assisting with investigations and determining a roadmap of preventative measures.
Read a summary of the independent report here >>
World Rugby Chief Executive Alan Gilpin said: “This case demonstrates the importance of operating a robust, science-led anti-doping programme with coordinated biological profile analysis, testing and long-term storage functions. Our extensive four-year investigation has helped identify subversion of the doping control process and sends a clear message that World Rugby takes all anti-doping matters extremely seriously and is an unwavering champion of clean sport.”
