Leading All Blacks test positive for steroids: investigation
Carter is the leading Test points scorer, amassing 1598 points in his 13-year All Blacks career over 112 Tests. Photo: AAP
Traces of steroids were found in the urine of All Blacks great Dan Carter after guiding his French side Racing Metro to the Top 14 title, a French newspaper claims.
French sports paper L’Equipe claims Carter, fellow former All Black Joe Rokocoko and Argentina’s Juan Imhoff all had abnormalities in their urine after tests conducted by the French drug-testing agency following the final in Barcelona on June 25.
The newspaper says, according to its information, the trio did not have a therapeutic use exemption (TUE) for the banned substance.
However, New Zealand media has reported that the players’ manager from Essentially Group, Simon Porter, said the players did have the correct exemption to use the banned substance and that Carter had been taking a corticoids for treatment of a calf injury.
A Dan Carter tweet from October 4
My life at the moment. Quality time with my new best friend @GameReady pic.twitter.com/wRbNrupFS6
— Dan Carter (@DanCarter) October 4, 2016
The vast majority of TUEs are granted around corticoids, Graeme Steel from Drug Free Sport New Zealand told Stuff.co.nz.
To get a TUE, an athlete must see a doctor, have the application forwarded to a specialist, and have it approved by a national TUE committee, the paper reported.
But TUEs are not required by the World Anti Doping Agency (WADA) in if injected into a joint, used on the skin, or taken nasally.
They are required if the corticoid is injected into a muscle, or taken orally.
Joe Rokocoko also reportedly tested positive for the banned corticoid. Photo: Getty.
Carter, 34, helped Racing Metro to their first French Top 14 title in 26 years by kicking 15 points to defeat Toulon 29-21 while wing Rokocoko scored a superb try.
Carter joined the French club after being named man of the match as the All Blacks won the Rugby World Cup last October after beating Australia 34-17 in the final.
He is the leading Test points scorer, amassing 1598 points in his 13-year All Blacks career over 112 Tests.
Rokocoko, 33, joined Racing Metro last year from Bayonne who he joined after playing 68 Tests for the All Blacks, scoring 46 tries.
The French Rugby Federation (FRF) has 40 days to launch their own investigation to determine if the use of the steroids had medical grounds.
