Former Australian rugby league star Jarryd Hayne’s hopes of chasing an Olympic dream after ditching a career in football might be scuttled by anti-doping protocols.
Hayne on Sunday announced he was abandoning playing in the NFL with the San Francisco 49ers to pursue a spot on Fiji’s rugby sevens squad for this year’s Rio Games. However, the switch might have struck an obstacle, with former Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority chair Richard Ings saying Hayne might not be eligible.
Ings said on Twitter that the NFL was not a World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) compliant body, meaning Hayne would not qualify under the drug testing regulations.
Photo: AP
“Slight problem mate,” Ings said. “World Rugby require you to be in their registered testing pool 6 months to be eligible to play.”
“If Jarryd Hayne had been playing in WADA compliant sport he would have grounds to reduce the 6 months. But NFL is PED [performance-enhancing drugs] badlands. No chance,” Ings said on Twitter.
“The 6 month return to competition rule is standard across most sports for athletes returning to international competition. And necessary,” he added.
Hayne generated significant interest after forcing his way onto the San Francisco 49ers roster after walking away from a lucrative rugby league career in his native Australia.
However, the 28-year-old enjoyed only flashes of success during a difficult first season, where his appearances were limited.
In a statement released through the 49ers on Sunday, Hayne revealed he had been approached by Fiji sevens officials with a view to playing in this summer’s Olympics, where rugby is returning to the Games after a 92-year absence.
“I am retiring from the NFL, because the Fiji Rugby Sevens team reached out to me about the opportunity to join the team for the upcoming Olympics, and I simply could not pass that chance up,” said Hayne, whose father is Fijian. “The Olympics has been something I have admired since I was a little boy, and it is an opportunity I feel very similar to me joining the NFL.”
Hayne earlier said he was proud of the fact that he had been able to transition from rugby league to the NFL, where he was used as a running back and special teams kick returner.
“The past 12 months with the San Francisco 49ers have been absolutely incredible. I could not have predicted how far I have come as an NFL player,” Hayne said.
“To not only be able to play in a game, but also say that I started a game in the NFL is something that I will remember for a lifetime,” the former Parramatta Eels star said.
The 49ers said Hayne was leaving with their blessing.
“Jarryd is a tremendous example of what can happen when you commit to a goal and do everything in your power to make it a reality,” 49ers general manager Trent Baalke said in a statement.
“We fully support Jarryd’s decision to pursue another dream — representing the Fiji rugby sevens team in this summer’s Olympic Games,” Baalke added.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB