Maitua suspended over positive drug test

Reni Maitua's rugby league career appears in tatters after the Cronulla forward was
suspended by the NRL for testing positive to a banned substance.

The former international tested positive to Clenbuterol, an anabolic agent used to
improve muscle mass and reduce body fat, following a routine Australian Sports Drug
Agency test three weeks ago.
The NRL imposed a provisional suspension effective immediately, pending the results
of tests on Maitua's B sample.
Clenbuterol is on the World Anti-Doping Agency's Prohibited List, with a doping
offence in relation to its use leading to a possible two-year ban.
Maitua and his manager Sam Ayoub met with Sharks chief executive Tony Zappia in
Sydney on Wednesday night, Maitua avoiding the waiting media scrum by escaping
through a back exit.
The positive test continues an wretched year for both the NRL and the Sharks, both
dogged by a succession of off-field atrocities.
The last high profile athlete to test positive for Clenbuterol was American swimmer
Jessica Hardy, who missed last year's Beijing Olympics as a result of a positive
test at the US Olympic trials.
Earlier this month Hardy had her two-year suspension for a failed drug test reduced
to one year, allowing her to return to competition this year.
In handing down its provisional ban, the NRL said it could not provide information
on the length of any possible suspension.
"The NRL is not in a position to give any further detail in relation to the test,
which is still at the A Sample stage," the NRL said in a statement.
"The player has the right to waive the B sample and move to an expedited hearing or
wait until the B Sample is confirmed, at which point the NRL will again offer the
opportunity to expedite the process."
A two-year ban would almost spell the end of the 26-year-old Maitua's NRL career.
He was handed a lifeline by the Sharks at the start of 2009 after being cut by the
Bulldogs in December last year for a string of off-field indiscretions - a matter
currently before the courts with Maitua claiming wrongful dismissal.
The Bulldogs claimed Maitua simply ran out of chances after repeated instances of
missed training sessions and reports of long drinking sessions.
The ban comes at the worst possible time for the Sharks who have lurched from one
crisis to the next in 2009 with huge question marks over the club's future due to a
crippling $9 million debt.
Two sponsors withdrew almost $150,000 in support last week in wake of the club's
involvement in the 2002 Christchurch group sex scandal, an incident which placed
former Shark Matthew Johns' media career at risk.
In January this year the club sacked Greg Bird in relation to his assault charge
involving girlfriend Katie Milligan last year, while halfback Brett Seymour was
suspended for two games and fined $20,000 following a long drinking session.