Rams RB Borsa suspended over failed drug test

University of Regina multi-sport athlete Kyle Borsa has been suspended from all U Sports play until next February, after a prohibited drug was found in his urine sample.

Borsa is a running back with the Rams football team and a member of the Cougars track and field team at the U of R.

In an emailed news release, the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport (CCES) said Borsa is suspended from all U Sports competition and practices until Feb. 15 next year.

This past football season with the Rams, Borsa led the Canada West conference with six rushing touchdowns. He placed second in the conference in all-purpose yards (1,340) and rushing yards (613).

The Centre said that higenamine was found in Borsa’s urine sample during an “out-of-competition doping control on Oct. 16, 2018.”

It said higenamine is a prohibited beta-2 agonist, classified as a specified substance on the Centre’s prohibited list.

When the Centre found the presence of the drug after the test, Borsa “admitted the violation in a timely fashion … and a hearing was held to determine the sanction length,” the release said.

“While the CCES decision points to the fact the use of the banned substance was unintentional, this is another reminder to all our student-athletes that they must be exceptionally vigilant to ensure compliance with the (Canadian Anti-Doping Program),” Lisa Robertson, the U of R’s Director of Sport, Community Engagement and Athlete Development, said in a media release.

“We support CADP and appreciate their efforts to protect the integrity of sport and the rights of clean athletes.”

Borsa is a graduate of Michael A. Riffel High School in Regina.

According to the CCES, higenamine benefits athletes and those who use it by increasing energy, alertness, heart rate and blood pressure, while reducing inflammation; it also helps muscles relax.