Sheffield United have suspended keeper Paddy Kenny for failing a drugs test.
Kenny tested positive for a banned substance, ephedrine, following last season's Championship play-off semi-final second leg against Preston.
Ephedrine is believed to be present in a cough mixture that the Republic of Ireland star bought over the counter, BBC Radio Sheffield understands.
"We confirm Paddy has been suspended. This is an ongoing, confidential matter," read a club statement.
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The 31-year-old will now be subject to a disciplinary inquiry by the Football Association and faces a range of possible sanctions from a reprimand up to a two-year ban.
The FA and UK Sport - the agency responsible for drug testing programmes in sport - have so far refused to comment.
BBC sports news correspondent Gordon Farquhar said Kenny will be given the opportunity to explain himself at a tribunal, which will decide if a punishment is deserved, and if so, of what duration.
"They can impose anything from a warning to a two-year ban. It's going to come down to whether the science backs up Kenny's claim that this was nothing more sinister than a bit of cough medicine," said Farquhar.
"The labs will be able to tell if this ephedrine has come from an over-the-counter remedy, and whether the amount of it in his system tallies with his account of how much he says he's taken."
Ephedrine is on the list of the World Anti-Doping Agency's specified substances but is contained in some cold cures, and a positive test does not carry the usual automatic two-year suspension.
It is a powerful stimulant; it increases metabolism and alertness; it can aid rapid weight loss, and above a certain limit, it's considered performance enhancing.
Since 2007, however, four rugby players - two from rugby union and two from rugby league - have all been served with two-year bans after testing positive for ephedrine.
In three of those cases, the players involved took ephedrine tablets before a match, while in the fourth case the source of the stimulant was unclear.
In order to minimise his punishment, Kenny will have to attempt to prove that he did not take the drug in order to enhance his performance. |
