Request Denied In Ostarine Case
CLEMSON--The appeal was filed and denied for Zach Giella and Braden Galloway, as the two members of the 2019 Clemson Tiger football team were suspended, along with former Tiger Dexter Lawrence, prior to the Cotton Bowl after a "sliver" of ostarine appeared in their sample.
As a result, both players will be ineligible for the 2019 season.
In a statement issued Friday, the university still holds to the still believes that the players involved did not "knowingly ingest any banned substance."
"We are disappointed in the results of the appeal and continue to believe our student-athletes did not knowingly ingest any banned substances. The Athletic Department takes seriously its role in the education, testing and enforcement of supplement and performance-enhancing substances. We will continue to adhere to best practices with respect to supplement use by student-athletes and support the position of the NCAA in its testing for PEDs.
"Student-athletes at Clemson have taken 329 tests for PEDs since 2014, and all results have been negative except for the trace amounts found during the December 2018 tests. The two current student-athletes were tested prior to the December test, including in April and October of 2018 and again in January and February of 2019, and results came back negative for PEDs. Clemson maintains a rigorous education and testing program, and all supplements are reviewed with Clemson Athletics Nutrition and Sports Medicine as well as the Clemson Compliance Office prior to approval for usage to ensure that no banned substances are included in the products.
"In compliance with the Family Educational Rights & Privacy Act, Clemson is not authorized to discuss further details of the appeal. Any further questions regarding the appeal should be directed to the student-athletes’ representation. Much has been made over the last month with regards to the Clemson football team and their drug testing procedures."
The university also provided a statement from the players attorney, Robert M. Arriail, which reads:
"The appeals on the penalties imposed on Braden Galloway and Zach Giella to the NCAA Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports have been denied, and both student-athletes will be ineligible for the 2019 football season. The imposed sanctions were the result of a trace amount of Ostarine being detected in both students’ December 2018 NCAA drug tests.
"The student-athletes repeatedly have stated that they have no knowledge of how Ostarine entered their bodies. Their assertions were confirmed by a polygraph examination taken by each. Both student-athletes had negative test results for prohibited substances in multiple urine drug screens in April and October of 2018, just before their positive December 2018 test, and again in both January and February of 2019, just after the December positive test.
"Ostarine is a known contaminant of legitimate products. As part of the appeal, the student-athletes presented statements from scientific experts which confirmed that the very low levels detected in December 2018 were indicative of contamination of legitimate products. A medical review committee of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) recently recommended that in cases such as this, no positive findings be made. Similarly, the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) has, in recent months, lifted the previously imposed suspensions against five athletes who tested positive for trace levels of Ostarine.
"The WADA report also noted that in many cases, the identification of the contaminated product is not possible. The students’ scientific expert stated that Ostarine can remain in one’s system for an indeterminate amount of time, making it even more difficult to pinpoint the source of contamination. In the December 2018 instance, the student-athletes were unable to identify the source of contamination. As part of the appeal process, an independent lab tested 27 supplements and products, and none came back as contaminated.
"Current NCAA policy places the burden on the student-athlete to explain the cause of the positive test result, even for trace amounts of a banned substance.
"We presented to the Committee convincing evidence that the student-athletes had not voluntarily or intentionally ingested Ostarine. We also presented evidence that the two primary regulatory agencies for drug testing of athletes, WADA and the
"USADA, have concluded that Ostarine is a wide-spread contaminant which is placed in other consumer products without identifying it on the label. This can produce a very low concentration of Ostarine upon testing. Thus contamination, found in" very low” or “trace” amount levels makes it impossible to determine whether the Ostarine is the result of intentional use or ingested through the consumption of a legitimate product contaminated with Ostarine. The issue has forced both agencies to take action that would remove “very low” or “trace” readings, like in this case, from consideration for sanctions.
"The NCAA committee, when presented with this evidence, failed to recognize the existence of the major change described above. Thus, it proceeded to use the current practice and policies in place and denied the appeals. Change in this area for the NCAA is inevitable and should have been recognized and applied in this case to reach a fair conclusion. Its failure to do so resulted in an unfair denial of our appeal.
"The student-athletes are in complete agreement that PEDs have no place in collegiate athletics. In this case, it is our strong belief that no violation occurred. We hope that this case serves as a call for the NCAA to modify its policies on PED testing and enforcement so that they are consistent with WADA’s proposed rules as well as the USADA.
"The student-athletes will have no further comment on this matter. They would like to thank Clemson University for its support of their appeal."
According to a story published by The Post and Courier, the Tigers had “Fewer than 20 Clemson players were tested in a random and routine NCAA drug screening of championship event participants.”
This fact, has drawn the ire of many across the nation, who are wondering why the Tigers had so few members of their 119 man roster tested after, “more than 15-percent of those Tigers screened tested positive for performance enhancing drugs (PEDs).”
However, the math is slightly misleading.
If the Tigers had more than 15-percent of their team test positive, the implication is that had the entire team been tested that more that 18 players on the Tigers’ national championship team would have tested positive—which is a fact that can neither be proven or disproven.
But the fact that the Tigers did not test the entire team is completely a result of the NCAA’s testing procedure in which they send a school participating in a championship or postseason event a list of players to be tested.
“ All student-athletes are subject to NCAA testing at NCAA championships or in conjunction with postseason bowl games,” according to the NCAA Drug-Testing Protocol.
“ Student-athletes may be tested before, during or after NCAA championship events and postseason bowl games. At NCAA team championships and postseason bowl games, student-athletes may be selected on the basis of position, competitive ranking, athletics financial-aid status, playing time, random selection, or other NCAA-approved selection method.
“For team championship and postseason bowl-game testing, student-athletes may be selected from the official travel party roster, official gate/credential list, championship participation sheets or other approved form.”
In fact, the Clemson Athletic Department drug-tests all athletes in all sports prior to the start of the season, including cheerleaders, mascots, video staff and managers.
“All teams are screened for drug use as a group prior to the season, on a random basis throughout the year and at the request of the head coach and/or other Athletic Department officials,” The university website states. “In addition, the NCAA conducts random tests and may test at championship events. Cheerleaders, mascots, student athletics trainers, student managers and student video staff may be included in the testing program.”
The three players who were suspended, Dexter Lawrence, Braden Galloway and Zach Giella, all tested positive for a substance known as ostarine.
Ostarine is, “Ostarine is the trademarked name for a Selective Androgen Receptor Modulator (SARM) that is not approved for human use or consumption in the U.S., or in any other country. In recent years, WADA has reported an increasing number of positive tests involving SARMs, and athletes who use these substances most likely obtain them through black market channels,” according to the US Anti-Doping Agency.
While the USADA still holds that the most likely way to obtain ostarine is through “black market” channels, their website gives a different account—as there are currently 60 products on their supplement list, which can be purchased at various retailers across the country, which contain the substance.
By comparison, last July there was only 36 products on the list.
“The unfortunate reality is that some dietary supplement manufacturers illegally put ostarine and other SARMs in their products, and some omit ostarine from the label entirely or use misleading names to confuse consumers’, writes the USADA. ‘You should look out for ostarine’s many synonyms, including MK-2866, enobasarm, (2S)-3-(4-cyanophenoxy)-N-[4-cyano-3-(trifluoromethyl)phenyl]-2-hydroxy-2-methylpropanamide, and GTx-024 on supplement labels.”
Head coach Dabo Swinney stated prior to the appeal being denied that the three players had not idea where the drugs came from.
"I think it’s important, very important, that the message is accurate and that the truth is told, because these are three great young men, three great young men, that I believe in, and that I know, without a doubt, have not intentionally done anything to jeopardize their opportunity or this team," Swinney said. "I don’t know how, if [ostarine] even is in their system, how it got there. But I do know that these three young men have not intentionally done anything. And there’s, again, plenty of precedent where the same thing has happened across the country with other people.