Former Georgia Rugby Captain Sharikadze Banned 11 Years for Doping Sample Scheme

Former Georgia rugby captain Merab Sharikadze has received an 11-year ban from sport for his role in a scheme that let national team players cheat anti-doping tests.

Hooker Giorgi Chkoidze drew a six-year suspension. Lasha Khmaladze, Otar Lashkhi and Miriani Modebadze each got three years, while Lasha Lomidze faces nine months.

Sharikadze, who captained Georgia to a win over Wales in Cardiff in 2022, admitted supplying clean urine to teammates.

A World Anti-Doping Agency probe uncovered that Georgia's national testing authority alerted team doctor Nutsa Shamatava to upcoming tests. She passed the information through a team group chat.

World Rugby spotted oddities in team samples before the 2023 Rugby World Cup and believes the substitutions hid recreational drug use.

The governing body retested old samples and confirmed five cases of tampering with Sharikadze and five others, going back to 2019.

Sharikadze played in three of Georgia's pool matches at the 2023 Rugby World Cup. Hooker Chkoidze withdrew before the tournament with an injury from a warm-up game.

Wing Modebadze started in the opener, a loss to Australia at Stade de France, but Lashkhi replaced him due to injury.

Khmaladze started at fullback in the loss to Wales in Nantes. Back row Lomidze, who had stints with London Irish and Doncaster in England, skipped the tournament.

Georgia ended last in their pool after drawing Portugal and losing the other three games.

Sharikadze, the highest-profile player banned, retired from rugby at age 30 soon after and took up MMA. He won his debut fight in November 2025.