Bok and Lions wing Aphiwe Dyantyi’s disciplinary hearing for the use of banned substances is set to take place in a virtual format within the next couple of months.
At the end of August last year, the South African Institute for Drug Free Sport confirmed that Dyantyi’s B sample had returned a positive test for banned substances after the initial bombshell findings following a national training camp in July.
At the time, the World Rugby Breakthrough Player of 2018 released a statement in which he denied taking any banned substances and requested that his B sample be tested.
Dyantyi has been in limbo since, as he awaits a hearing date. But according a report in the Irish Times, a hearing date is close as the player is set to face disciplinary proceedings within the next two months.
SAIDS CEO Khalid Galant says the delay in setting a date for Dyantyi’s disciplinary hearing is because of the closure of the organisation’s testing laboratories due to the outbreak of Covid-19.
READ: Complex road ahead for Dyantyi
‘We have to develop a procedure and protocol for a virtual hearing and then the athlete‚ his counsel and the arbitrating panel have to agree because this virtual hearing is a new thing,’ Galant said.
‘We are probably going to do it within the next two months. We can’t just say we are going to have a virtual hearing – we have to give the parties the right to accept it or decline it and make sure that witnesses are not compromised,’ he explained.
‘Initially we were supposed to have the hearing in early to mid-April but [Dyanti] had to have a couple of supplements analysed.
‘The athlete sent a few supplements that he claimed could have been the source. Unfortunately with the lockdown‚ labs who do the analysis of the supplements were closed‚ but I believe they have opened and we should be receiving the results of the supplements soon.’
SAIDS is also set to deliver the verdict in Chiliboy Ralepelle doping case this week, after he tested positive for a banned substance in April 2019.
Photo: Anton Geyser/Gallo Images
