(REUTERS) – South African batsman Vaughn van Jaarsveld has tested positive for banned stimulant sibutramine, according to the South African Cricketers’ Association
The hard-hitting left-hander, 25, has played two one-day internationals and three Twenty20 internationals for South Africa.
“It does not appear to be his fault because it was present in dieting tablets he was prescribed by his doctor called Ciplatrim,” said SACA chief executive Tony Irish.
“Because it is a specified substance, it means it can be taken inadvertently because it is commonly found in medicines, for instance.
“We don’t believe it is his fault, but we have to go through the process and we have waived his right to have the B-sample tested. In the circumstances, we hope the SA Institute for Drug-Free Sport will be pretty lenient.”
Sibutramine, an appetite suppressant drug, is a specified substance on the World Anti-Doping Agency’s banned list.
van Jaarsveld’s positive test comes the day after Springbok rugby players Chiliboy Ralepelle and Bjorn Basson arrived home after being suspended for testing positive for the stimulant methylhexaneamine during their tour of Britain and Ireland.
The Springbok team are still trying to determine the source of Ralepelle and Basson’s positive tests, fearing it could have come from contaminated supplements the whole squad have been taking.
“The substance could come from many different sources, like the caffeine substances,” team doctor Craig Roberts told the SuperSport website.
“What we are doing now is going through the process of looking at all the possibilities and exhausting them one by one. Obviously we need to get to the bottom of this as quickly as possible
A leading South African sports scientist, Glen Hagemann, has warned that South African sport runs the risk of more positive tests due to the lack of control in the country’s lucrative dietary supplement industry.
“Because there is no regulation, you can manufacture a supplement in your garage,” said Hagemann, a former doctor for the Sharks rugby team.
“There’s nothing to stop anyone. Each and every sportsman needs to understand, especially in the absence of any industry regulation, that every supplement is potentially unsafe.”