Ralepelle Ban: The saga drags on
REACTION: Springbok Mahlatse “Chiliboy” Ralepelle’s fight to clear his name may not be over yet.
Following the announcement that Ralepelle had lost his appeal against an eight-year ban, his lawyer, Hendrik Hugo of ENS Africa, told rugby365com, that the legal team may take the case to Court of Arbitration for Sport in Switzerland.
That decision – to continue his fight against the ban – rests with the Springbok.
Ralepelle was handed the ban by the South African Institute for Drug-Free Sport (SAIDS), after testing positive for the banned anabolic substance Zeranol at an out-of-competition test on January 17 last year.
#NEWS: @Springboks Chiliboy Ralepelle’s doping case battle comes to an end! https://t.co/AtFjuIcR7n
— rugby365.com (@rugby365com) November 12, 2020
The former Springbok captain, with the help of his lawyer, Hugo, has been contesting the doping charges since the start of July.
His legal team was adamant that there were “many grounds” of appeal due to the multiple inaccuracies in the findings, while the length of the ban was also an issue.
Following months of the legal proceedings, SAIDS revealed on Thursday that the Independent Doping Hearing Panel has “upheld the original sanction of eight years,”
The panel took into account that it was his second doping offence within a 10-year period.
SAIDS has given the Springbok the option to fight the eight-year ban at the CAS in Switzerland.
In the aftermath of Thursday’s ruling lawyer, Hugo revealed to rugby365com, that ” they are still considering the judgment of the appeal tribunal and will provide our client [Ralepelle] with our opinion to appeal to CAS in Switzerland in due course,”
However he emphasised they “will then take instructions from him [Ralepelle] to launch the appeal with CAS,”
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