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Merab Sharikadze: Ex Georgia captain banned for 11 years for cheating anti-doping rules

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Former Georgia captain Merab Sharikadze has been banned from sport for 11 years for his part in a secret scheme which helped national team players cheat anti-doping tests.

Hooker Giorgi Chkoidze has been banned for six years, with Lasha Khmaladze, Otar Lashkhi and Miriani Modebadze receiving three-year suspensions, and Lasha Lomidze being banned for nine months.

Sharikadze, who led Georgia to a famous win over Wales in Cardiff in 2022, admitted providing ‘clean’ urine to team-mates.

A World Anti-Doping Agency investigation found that Georgia’s national testing authority would tip off Georgia’s team doctor Nutsa Shamatava about forthcoming tests, and she would then share the information via a team group chat.

World Rugby, who flagged anomalies in samples from the team in the run-up to the 2023 Rugby World Cup, says it believes the sample substitution ploy was designed to conceal the use of recreational drugs.

The game’s governing body supplied historical samples which, when retested, showed five instances of sample substitution involving Sharikadze and five other players, dating back to 2019.

Sharikadze appeared in three of the Lelos’ pool games at the 2023 Rugby World Cup, while hooker Chkoidze dropped out of contention for the tournament just before its start, citing an injury picked up in a warm-up match.

Wing Modebadze started the team’s defeat by Australia in their tournament opener at Stade de France, before being replaced in the squad by Lashkhi on injury grounds.

Khmaladze started at full-back in the defeat by Wales in Nantes, while back row Lomidze, who had brief spells in England with London Irish and Doncaster, was not involved in the tournament.

Georgia finished bottom of their pool, drawing against Portugal and losing their other three matches.

Sharikadze, the most high-profile of the suspended players, ended his player career shortly after, aged 30, and switched careers to become an MMA fighter, winning his debut bout in November 2025.

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Phillies bullpen implodes again as Braves take Game 1. Can Philly recover?

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ATLANTA — A tense Game 1 between division rivals turned on its head when Phillies closer Jhoan Duran surrendered a go-ahead, three-run homer to Austin Riley with two outs in the eighth inning. The Atlanta Braves won 5-3, and can advance with a win in Game 2 of this NL Wild Card Series on Wednesday.
The Phillies, once again burned by their bullpen in the postseason, face elimination on Wednesday. Here are takeaways from a tense Game 1 in Atlanta, where division rivals met in the postseason for the third time in five years:

As Riley’s ball sailed over the right-field wall, it was hard…

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Football Daily – Premier League confirm Man City guilty of all charges – 5 Live Reaction

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Available for 29 days

Kelly Somers gets the latest on the huge breaking news story, that the Premier League confirmed that Manchester City have been found guilty of all charges related to breaches of Premier League financial rules between 2009-10 and 2017-18.

Kelly breaks down a really damning statement from the Premier League and with her to do that is the BBC’s football issues correspondent Dale Johnson, football finance expert Kieran Maguire from the Price of Football podcast, as well as football correspondent John Murray and former England goalkeeper Paul Robinson.

They also hear from former Manchester City chairman David Bernstein – who said the Premier League statement was “damning beyond belief” and also get a fans perspective.

Manchester City also released their own statement today saying the club are “both disappointed and surprised by the opinion of the Premier League Commission” – they have until Friday to appeal.

Programme Website

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Who continues to show how important they are? – England player ratings

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James Trafford: Made a good save in the second half. Trafford was very calm with the ball at his feet and showed his passing range which pleased Tuchel throughout. 6

Trent Alexander-Arnold: Started his first England game for nearly two years. Not much to do defensively but put in a great ball for the England opener. 7

Trevoh Chalobah: A shaky start from the centre back who lost possession a couple of times and lost out in challenges which frustrated manager Thomas Tuchel. But Chalobah settled and ensured England kept a clean sheet against 10-man Czech Republic. 6

Marc Guehi: The usual reliable performance from Guehi. England didn’t have much defending to do but he put in a couple of important blocks. 6

Lewis Hall: The left-back combined well with Anthony Gordon and offered a good outlet for England. Hall was a threat going forward and should have scored in the second half. 7

Elliot Anderson: Dominated the midfield, kept the ball ticking for England and won possession back the few times that the Czech Republic ventured forward. A mature performance. 7

Myles Lewis-Skelly: Started the game well and was given a lot of responsibility in England’s build up play. However, Lewis-Skelly was booked for a mis-timed tackle and then taken off at half time. 6

Morgan Rogers: Played Bukayo Saka through with a nice pass early on and hit the post twice. Not given much room by a Czech side who defended very deep. 6

Bukayo Saka: Not much of note to mark for Saka in what was a cagey match as England laboured when breaking down the Czech defence before Gordon’s goal. 6

Anthony Gordon: A constant threat in behind and put in a dangerous cross in the first half that deserved to end up with a goal. Scored the opener and continues to show why he is becoming so important for the Three Lions. 8

Harry Kane: A quieter night for Kane who dropped deep and went looking for the ball but the England captain still got on the score sheet with a good finish inside the area in the second half. 7

Subs:

Eberechi Eze (on 46, Lewis-Skelly): Added a spark to midfield. 6

Jude Bellingham (on 70, Kane): Took the captains armband and led the line. 6

Alex Scott (on 70, Anderson): Made his England debut. 6

Rio Ngumoha (on 71, Saka): His first thought was to go forward. 6

Morgan Gibbs-White (on 81, Gordon):

Subs not used: Pickford, Steele, Konsa, Branthwaite, Garner, Calvert-Lewin, Quansah

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