Article by David Istrate – Published Saturday, 14 March 2026, 20:20 / Updated Saturday, 14 March 2026 20:34
A few days after Georgia's 53-30 victory over Romania in the semi-finals of the 2026 Rugby Europe Championship, World Rugby issued a statement accusing the Georgians of an “orchestrated scheme” to violate anti-doping rules and named 6 players.
On Sunday, March 8, Georgia defeated Romania 53-30 and qualified for the final of the European Championship, where they will meet Portugal. Abzhandadze, Metreveli, Tabusadze, Saghinadze, Jalagonia, Matkava, Shioshvili and Kakhoidze got their names on the list of scorers. Instead, Conache, Boboc, Strătilă, Williams and Plai stood out for the tricolors.
6 players and a staff member accused of violating anti-doping rules
Meanwhile, according to rugbypass.com, World Rugby has issued an official statement confirming that six internationals from the Georgia national rugby union team and a member of the technical staff have violated anti-doping rules.
Recently there has been more information about the misconduct of Georgian rugby players, but for a long time none of the camps involved made statements, whether we are talking about the Georgian Rugby Federation or World Rugby.
Following the investigation, several breaches of the rules came to light ahead of the 2023 Rugby World Cup. Five of the six accused players have already been sanctioned for recreational drug use.
World Rugby statement: “We take doping issues very seriously”
World Rugby can confirm that a major joint investigation by World Rugby and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has resulted in confirmed Anti-Doping Rule Violations (ADRVs) against six players and one member of support staff from the Georgia senior national team. This confirmation follows a public update by WADA today.
The investigation was triggered when irregularities were identified in urine samples by World Rugby's athlete biological passport management program covering an extended period of time before the 2023 Men's Rugby World Cup in France. World Rugby immediately alerted WADA, and the two bodies collaborated closely during complex and extensive parallel investigations, which included targeted player testing and DNA analysis by World Rugby, including on historical samples retained through World Rugby's long-term storage programme.
Six players and a member of team support staff were charged and sanctioned in connection with an orchestrated scheme involving recreational drugs and evidence substitution (a practice prohibited by the WADA Code and World Rugby's Anti-Doping Rules).
While we note WADA's public update, including its parallel investigation into the Georgia Anti-Doping Agency under World Rugby's Anti-Doping Rules, the international federation cannot currently make any further comment until the entire disciplinary process (results management) has been completed and the results and sanctions have been published.
World Rugby takes all doping issues very seriously and is a staunch supporter of clean sport
– World Rugby press release
On Sunday, March 15, Georgia will face Portugal in the final of the European Championship, while Romania will play against Spain for the bronze medal. The tricolor game will start at 17:00 and will take place in Leganes, Spain.
