Over a doping code violation, West Indies all-rounder Andre Russell has been banned from all cricket for a year, his Australian Twenty20 club said on Wednesday.
Andre Russell, 28-year-old, did not file his whereabouts on three occasions in 2015 as required, which constitutes a failed drugs test under World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) guidelines.
On Tuesday, the punishment of Russell was handed down by the Jamaican Anti-Doping Commission.
In confirming the outcome, Sydney Thunder General Manager – Nick Cummins said that we are devastated for Andre.
He further said that we have not seen the written judgement, but given the circumstances surrounding the filing failures we thought he had a good chance of being exonerated. We will monitor the appeals process and assess our options.
Under the whereabouts rules of WADA, elite athletes must supply details of where they will be for one hour each day to facilitate drug tests.
Andre Russell played the first five games of the Big Bash League this year for Thunder before withdrawing due to injury and being replaced by international teammate Carlos Brathwaite.
Sydney Thunder director of cricket Michael Hussey told the Cricket Australia website that I feel for him. He has been going through a really tough time of late with all the ‘whereabouts’ saga going on and he has been waiting to hear the finding of that hearing. I want him to go away and get better physically but also mentally.
