Rugby Union: French rugby chief calls for creatine ban

THE PRESIDENT of the French rugby union is to demand the banning of creatine - the muscle-building supplement marketed as a `legal steroid' - for next year's Five Nations' Championship and World Cup.

Bernard Lapasset will take advantage of the visit of the International Rugby Board president, Vernon Pugh, and the European Rugby Council president, Tom Kiernan, to Paris on Saturday to air his views.

"I am going to officially ask that creatine is as soon as possible on the list of banned doping products, definitely for the World Cup, but also for the Five Nations championship," Lapasset said. His call for action came following the publication of an exclusive Independent survey that showed 57 per cent of leading British sportsmen have used creatine, and amid growing fears over the safety of long-term heavy use of the product.