Chilliboy Ralepelle and Bjorn Basson will face a SARU judicial committee at 09h00 this morning.The Bulls duo are accused of taking the banned substance methylhexaneamine while on the 2010 EOYT. Unsurprisingly both have pleaded that they never intentionally took the substance.
It seems as if they were given the methylhexaneamine by the Bok team management as part of treatment that they received while ill with flu.
Basson has been vocal in his criticism of his treatment by SARU since the incident occurred.
More to follow.
Supersport said earlier.
But it seems that a supplement may have been contaminated at the source and given to the players in error without their knowledge, a factor that will play heavily in their favour when the tribunal meets from 9am on Tuesday morning.
The banned substance was changed from a “non-specified” substance to a “specified” substance on 1 January this year, six weeks after the duo were tested positive. By being a “specified” substance, it means in layman’s terms that if there is a logical explanation, you can be exonerated, as opposed to the stiff two-year automatic ban for “non-specified” substances.
There is a hope that in the worst-case scenario, the duo will be banned for three months, which will be set retroactively so that they have already served out their sentences.
Either way, the verdict, which is not expected on Tuesday, will be eagerly awaited in Pretoria, where coach Frans Ludeke has delayed naming his team to face the Southern Kings in a pre-season warm-up on Saturday until a verdict is received.