‘Astounded’ Sheahan on offensive ahead of doping appeal

IRELAND and Munster hooker Frankie Sheahan has gone on the offensive ahead of his intended appeal against a two-year doping ban, saying he and his family were “astounded and extremely dismayed” with the decision of the ERC Judicial Tribunal last week.

In a statement over the weekend from Sheahan and his family, in which he confirmed his intention to appeal against the ban, the international said he was dismayed not only by the decision itself, but also with the manner in which the decision was presented in the official statement issued by ERC Ltd on Friday last.

Sheahan maintains that in that statement, the independent Judicial Tribunal, while producing figures to justify the suspension imposed, inexplicably chose to ignore the evidence produced by the player and his legal and medical team, which explained the presence of a prohibited substance in a sample collected from the player after the Heineken Cup in Toulouse.