Former Australian rugby league international James Maloney has been stood down after testing positive for cocaine, his French club Lezignan confirmed.
Recent reports from L’Independent in France claim he had been absent from the Lezignan side since March 19th not through injury as reported previously but having tested for a banned substance and subsequently receiving a ban.
The test is said to have taken place during a doping control carried out after the match in Carcassonne, on February 27th.
Maloney, who notched up almost 250 games in the NRL, 14 State of Origin matches for New South Wales and was capped three times by Australia, is under contract at Lezignan until the end of June having joined the semi-professional club after leading the Catalans Dragons to last season’s Super League final.
He is suspended pending a decision by the French anti-doping agency.
“It’s up to him to provide some details,” Lezignan president Alain Fabre told AFP.
“We all know cocaine is a scourge throughout society. No one is out of its reach.
“Unfortunately we can’t be behind all the players to watch over what they’re doing when they’re not at the club.”
