Rugby has been rocked by scandal this week and the man at the heart of it has spoken out
Disgraced Georgia captain Merab Sharikadze has broken his silence on his 11-year ban from the sport, claiming he was stabbed in the back by a team-mate and revealing his life has been destroyed by the scandal that has rocked rugby.
Sharikadze said the fallout from the massive anti-doping investigation was the cause of his mother’s death in an explosive interview with the Daily Mail.
The 32-year-old, who captained Georgia to their famous win over Wales in 2022, is one of six former Georgian internationals to have received a ban following a major joint-investigation between the World Anti-Doping Agency and World Rugby that uncovered a scheme involving sample substitution and advance warnings of drug tests. The investigation, dubbed ‘Operation Obsidian’, was launched in 2023 and found five instances where players allegedly swapped urine samples to avoid detection.
Four of the other five players who have been banned – Giorgi Chkoidze, Lasha Khmaladze, Lasha Lomidze and Miriani Modebadze – also featured in the win over Wales in Cardiff four years ago.
Hooker Chkoidze has been handed a six-year ban, while Khmaladze, Modebadze and Otar Lashkhi have been banned for three years each. Lomidze has been given a nine-month ban.
Georgia’s former chief medical officer Nutsa Shamatava has also been banned for nine years.
“My whole life was destroyed,” Sharikadze told the Mail.
“My mother passed away because of this situation. My sister found a note to God in her purse two months after she passed away, saying: ‘Bring Merab back to the field as captain’.”
Sharikadze admits he made a terrible mistake, substituting samples on three occasions, but believes the length of his ban is far too long. He says he was offered immunity if he helped unearth full details of the conspiracy, but refused to so.
He claims a team-mate who he helped by providing him with a clean urine sample has gone unpunished after “stabbing everybody in the back” by giving details to the authorities.
“It was stupid but, at that stage, I was thinking that the boys, my friends, are in trouble and I had to help them. It was marijuana. I know it happens. I’ve played in England, I’ve played in France and I’ve seen a lot of people in rugby smoking cannabis.
“Obviously it was a huge mistake but I gave it to this person I trusted and it was not hard to swap. I made a mistake and it destroyed me.
“The worst thing is how they received this information. Nobody outside of this circle is involved in this story. If you look at the case, the person who gave all the information, who used my urine sample, they let him free.
“Everyone else got caught, including me. I understand I’m guilty. Who I helped, stabbed me in the back to save himself. He stabbed everybody else as well.”
The conspiracy was found to have been used to cover up the use of cannabis and tramadol among players rather than performance-enhancing drugs, with players tipped off by the team doctor ahead of tests so they could prepare for the authorities to arrive.
WADA president Witold Banka suggested there could be further sanctions to follow in Georgian sport. By way of follow-up, WADA has already extracted collected samples from other Georgian athletes in different sports.
“What has been happening in Georgian rugby is outrageous and will send shockwaves through Georgian sport and government, as well as the global game of rugby,” said Banka. “I want to thank WADA’s independent Intelligence & Investigations team for their diligence and expertise in relentlessly pursuing this operation with determination and professionalism.
“I also praise World Rugby’s commitment to uncovering the facts and its willingness to work collaboratively with WADA to deliver this strong result for rugby.”