Scotland lock MacLeod in clear after failing drug test

Llanelli's 28-year-old Scotland lock escaped with a warning after a random test revealed traces of a banned substance in a case similar to the one which left Ireland hooker Frankie Sheahan fighting a two-year suspension.

Both players suffer from asthma and MacLeod's case has prompted renewed calls for asthmatic medication to be withdrawn from the World Anti-Doping Agency's prohibited list.

"I'm not a cheat," said MacLeod after an independent judicial committee found him not guilty of deliberately breaking the rules by inhaling the banned substance, Terbutaline, for his asthma. "I am pleased that the panel accept that I had used Terbutaline inadvertently and that there had been no intention to enhance sports performance.

"I've had asthma all my life, since I was about two. I've never left the house since the age of five without an inhaler. I couldn't play sport without it. I use it pretty much all the time.

"I was shocked but am glad to get it over with. I' ll certainly not make the same mistake again. This experience has been a bit of a wake-up call. Hopefully, other players will be a bit more savvy given what's happened to me. Now all I want to do is put this behind me and concentrate on the job in hand with the national team."

UK Sport notified the Scottish Rugby Union of MacLeod's positive test 12 days ago. Head coach Frank Hadden picked him against Ireland in Dublin last weekend only after the panel cleared the player of any punishment beyond a warning that a repeat offence would mean an automatic two-year ban.

Under international doping rules, an exception is made of medication administered by inhalation in asthma treatment, like Terbutaline and Salbutamol, if the athlete concerned has been issued with a Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE).

In MacLeod's case, the panel "accepted that the absence of the required TUE was entirely inadvertent since the player had a valid subsisting TUE for Salbutamol and that, as a chronic sufferer of severe asthma, the use of Terbutaline in substitution for Salbutamol was not intended to enhance performance".

An England footballer warned last year after testing positive for Terbutaline without the TUE certificate chose to remain anonymous.

MacLeod, capped 16 times, could have done the same. Gregor Nicholson, Scottish rugby's international administrator, said: "We were under no requirement to name Scott. However, given that he feels it has been a salutary lesson, he has agreed to his name being released to help to underline the message to other players."

UK Sport gave the verdict their approval. Andy Parkinson, the head of operations for drug-free sport, said: "We are satisfied the player involved needed the substance for his particular medical condition and the SRU have dealt with this correctly in line with the regulations set out in the World Anti-Doping code."

Sheahan's test, after Munster's European Cup semi-final against Toulouse in April 2003, resulted in a two-year ban, reduced on appeal to three months and a £3,500 fine.

Sheahan said yesterday: "Obviously commonsense has prevailed in Scott's case and he hasn't had to go through what I went through. If I hadn't had financial help I could have been shamed for life. It cost me 120,000 euros to clear my name.

"I had to consult with medical experts in the UK and Germany as well as Ireland in my fight for justice. Nobody ever told me how many puffs of my inhaler I could take and the craziest part of all is to suggest that it could enhance your performance. This whole question needs to be revised."