The tribunal met to hear the case of Munster Hooker, Frankie Sheahan who has been charged by ERC of a doping offence following the Heineken Cup semi-final between Toulouse and Munster on 26 April, 2003.

The tribunal met at 11.30 and concluded at 18.30 but unfortunately for Frankie and his family, they could not arrive at a final decision. The tribunal is set to announce its decision at the end of this week (no precise date given), the decision will be conveyed to the ERC, who in turn will inform Frankie Sheahan and his family, who must surely be going through a particurlary bad time at present.

Previous Notes:

Frankie has used an inhaler since his early teenage years and has been filling in forms to state that case throughout his career.

Frankie has said....''Apparently, I did not tick off the appropriate box to show I have a medical need to use Ventolin, which contains Salbutamol, because of asthma, which all my medical records show," ''Ventolin is not a forbidden substance and it is simply a technicality of having it declared on the form".

Analysis by the IOC-accredited laboratory in Paris of the B sample given by the player has confirmed the presence of Salbutamol, as initially indicated by the A sample analysis. Salbutamol is a Prohibited Substance under the IOC List of Prohibited Substances and Prohibited Methods, upon which the ERC anti-doping programme is based.

The three-man independent Judicial Tribunal which heard the charge against the Frankie Sheahan were Professor Lorne Crerar (Chairman), Dr Donald MacLeod and Peter Brown. The hearing will be conducted at the ERC offices in Dublin.