Welsh rugby union player Jack Little receives two-year ban for Anti-Doping Rule Violations
Welsh rugby union player Jack Little, of Beddau Rugby Football Club, has been banned from sport for a period of two years following Anti-Doping Rule Violations (ADRVs) for the Presence and Use of a Prohibited substance.
Mr Little’s Sample tested positive for higenamine, following an Out-of-Competition test. Higenamine is a Specified beta-2-agonist and is prohibited at all times.
UKAD notified Mr Little that he may have committed ADRVs for the Presence and Use of a Prohibited Substance and provisionally suspended him. In his response, Mr Little explained that he had taken a supplement called “Shredabull Untamed 2.0”, which contained an ingredient called ‘nandina domestica extract’, another name for higenamine.
UKAD charged Mr Little, who admitted the ADRVs and accepted a two-year ban.
Mr Little is entitled to credit for the time he spent provisionally suspended, so his ban is deemed to have commenced on 29 September 2023 (the date his provisional suspension started) and will expire on 28 September 2025.
UKAD takes this opportunity to remind all athletes that higenamine is a Prohibited Substance banned at all times and can often be listed by the following names:
- Nandina domestica
- Demethylcoclaurine
- Norcoclaurine
- Tinospora crispa
- Aconitum japonicum
- Gnetum Parvifolium
- Asarum hetertropoides
Athletes are advised to be vigilant in using any supplement. No guarantee can be given that any particular supplement is free from Prohibited Substances. Before taking supplements, athletes must therefore assess the need, risk and consequences to their careers.
Technical terms and more information
Please note, unless otherwise indicated or the context otherwise requires, capitalised terms used in this announcement have the meaning given to them in the UK Anti-Doping Rules and/or World Anti-Doping Code.
Out-of-Competition testing includes all tests that do not take place at competitions. These can occur at any time or place - during training as well as outside of training.
The ban for Specified substances is two years unless the anti-doping organisation has sufficient evidence to demonstrate that the ADRV was Intentional, in which case the ban will increase to four years.
On 29 September 2023, UKAD notified Mr Little that he may have committed ADRVs pursuant to Article 2.1 (Presence of a Prohibited Substance or its Metabolites or Markers in an Athlete’s Sample) and 2.2 (Use or Attempted Use of a Prohibited Substance or Prohibited Method) of the 2021 UK Anti-Doping Rules (ADR), and provisionally suspended him from all sport.
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