Prohibited substance nets two-year ban for Jed’s Roff

Blake Roff takes the ball in this lineout (archive image)

The Riverside back-row forward (pictured here in red, catching the ball) bought Clenbuterol online, which is a banned substance under World Anti-Doping Regulations, except with a valid therapeutic use exemption, in December 2014.

He was still living and playing rugby in his native New Zealand at the time.

Roff was identified after Drug Free Sport New Zealand investigated an online supplier trading under ‘Clenbuterol NZ’ in 2017 and accessed its customer database, resulting in proceedings being brought against several athletes, and subsequent bans enforced.

Drug Free Sport New Zealand issued the two-year sanction, which is effective worldwide and across all sports. As a registered player in Scotland, Roff will be unavailable to Jed-Forest until May 2020. He registered to play in Scotland in August 2016.

A Scottish Rugby spokesman said: “Scottish Rugby continues to operate a zero-tolerance approach to all use of prohibited substances.

“We are pro-actively using intelligence-led testing and working with other international agencies to find those taking banned substances and remove them from the game.

“There is a comprehensive education programme in place and it is the player’s own responsibility to be aware of which substances are prohibited and ensure they compete clean.”