Wales
Former Swansea hooker banned for eight years
ESPN Staff
February 25, 2014
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Former Swansea hooker Dean Colclough has been suspended from all sports for eight years after being found guilty of using his company to distribute steroids.

Colclough retired because of injury in 2007 but later ran a company which produced and distributed muscle-building supplements. An independent panel found him guilty of breaking anti-doping rules.

UK Anti-Doping (UKAD), which brought the charges, said the eight-year ban was the largest to be handed down in the UK for a first offence. UKAD's Graham Arthur told the BBC: "This finding demonstrates that everyone in sport has a responsibility to anti-doping, no matter what the level of engagement."

Colclough, who played more than 100 times for Swansea, was still registered as a player with the Welsh Rugby Union. He told the panel he had never used any illegal substances while playing, adding: "I do not condone doping in sport and the products we sell are aimed at those wanting to build up their muscle mass and improve the look of their physique."

The panel heard that Scottish player Sam Chalmers,, who was banned for two years in 2013 after being found guilty of using steroids, had bought products from Chalmers' company. However, it concluded it could not be "comfortably satisfied" that Colclough's firm had supplied the steroids in the player's positive test.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd

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