Entire Team Tests Positive for Banned Substance, including some Staff Members

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TJ Tucker
August 30, 2023 (10:52)

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A strange twist to a story involving doping in hockey. It was recently revealed that seven players with Tolpar Ufa, the junior team of the KHL's Salavat Yulaev Ufa, tested positive for a banned substance. New testing shows the issue goes much deeper.

According to reports out of Russia, all members of the team were sent for testing at a private clinic following the initial positive results back in April. Every single playing member of the hockey team tested positive, as well as some staff members with the team.

"The management of the Ufa club sent the entire team to a private clinic to take tests - as a result, banned drugs were found in all hockey players, except for the injured, who did not play. Doping was found even in a technician, a masseur and a serviceman." - Sport24.ru

The Russian Anti-Doping Agency also tested 10 players following the initial positive tests, but the results are not yet known. The substance allegedly found is Meldonium, which was banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency back in 2016. It is a metabolic modulator, changing how some hormones accelerate or slow down enzymatic reactions in the body.

A recent report from Championat cited a source as saying the seven players who first tested positive have laid the blame on a training coach with the team, who allegedly threatened to have their careers derailed if they did not follow his instructions.