The leaders of Stade Rochelais were quietly preparing to support Uini Atonio, Grégory Alldritt, Jonathan Danty, Pierre Bourgarit, Reda Wardi, Paul Boudehent and the entire XV of France during the summit against South Africa on Sunday, when they learned of quite a bad news this Thursday. The club’s great hope, Oscar Jégou (20 years old), received a letter last week from the French Anti-Doping Agency (AFLD) informing him of a positive test for a banned substance, benzoylecgonine, cocaine metabolite.
This positive test of the young La Rochelle third row would have been carried out on August 20, after a defeat in the Top 14 in Montpellier (16-15). According to The Team, the person concerned allegedly consumed cocaine during a housewarming party, two days before this first match of the season. Cocaine, which is part of the “unspecified stimulants” for the AFLD, is prohibited in competition. Summoned next Tuesday in Paris to the Agency’s premises, Oscar Jégou will try to prove that he only consumed this substance to party, and not in order to improve his performances on the pitches of the Top 14.
Oscar Jégou could be banned for four years
A sanction of three months of suspension could then be decided by the AFLD, with a possible reduction of the sentence to one month if he follows a treatment program. The world champion player this summer with the under-20s is “laid off as a precautionary measure” by his club, which released this Thursday with a press release.
“Oscar Jégou regrets having consumed a prohibited substance in a festive and private setting, outside the La Rochelle group,” specifies the double reigning European champion. This information is a real shock for our club which places the education and training of its young people at the heart of its priorities. But it also illustrates the rise of this social scourge. » Oscar Jégou, who is still under a hopeful contract, risks the maximum penalty of being banned for four years.