14 Australia rugby league players face doping ban - report

Australian media reported on Thursday that up to 14 Cronulla Sharks players have been urged to accept a six-month suspension over an Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority investigation into the National Rugby League club.

Cronulla, which scheduled a media conference for later Thursday, called a number of its players and managers to an emergency meeting on Tuesday to discuss the club's mention in an Australian Crime Commission report last month into alleged doping.

Two peptide-based supplements given to Sharks players by a sports scientist is the focus of ASADA's investigation of the club. The players were reportedly told that voluntary six-month ban would avoid a future two-year doping ban.

Bookmakers have suspended betting on the Cronulla-Gold Coast game Sunday, part of the opening round of the 2013 NRL season.
 

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