DAVID Foggin-Johnston was a marquee signing for Keighley Cougars when he joined them from Bradford Bulls at the end of last season, but the winger has not played a single game for them.
And the reason why has now been revealed, with it being announced today that Foggin-Johnston is currently serving a two-year ban from rugby league after testing positive for cocaine.
He was tested on August 27 last year by the UK Anti-Doping Agency, the same day he scored two tries for Bulls in a Betfred Championship win at Swinton, with the sample showing a positive reading for cocaine.
By that date, he had already agreed to sign for Betfred League 1 side Keighley, putting pen to paper on a two-year deal at Cougar Park, which had been announced 10 days prior by both clubs.
As a result of the positive test after the Swinton game, Foggin-Johnston was quietly suspended last October having admitted to an anti-doping rule violation.
Ukad then referred the case to an independent panel, with a tribunal meeting last month and subsequently deciding to issue the ban.
The tribunal judged that it was satisfied that the use of cocaine was "recreational and unrelated to sport performance".
Given Foggin-Johnston’s ban from the sport actually began on October 11, 2023, he is already nearly halfway through it, and will be available to play again after October 10, 2025.
Keighley have issued a statement about their player, saying: “We must remember that there is a person behind this decision and we have worked closely with Dee during this process to protect his mental health and his new family.
"We must also remember this is an incident that occurred before Dee was a Keighley Cougars player.
"We would ask that people remain vigilant in their public comments.
"Everyone makes mistakes and we are confident Dee will learn from this and work towards rebuilding his career when he is able to do so.”
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