{"id":5162,"date":"2025-05-12T12:36:02","date_gmt":"2025-05-12T10:36:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/?p=5162"},"modified":"2026-03-12T10:38:47","modified_gmt":"2026-03-12T08:38:47","slug":"kagiso-rabada-tests-positive-for-cocaine-what-happens-next","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/kagiso-rabada-tests-positive-for-cocaine-what-happens-next\/","title":{"rendered":"Kagiso Rabada Tests Positive for Cocaine \u2013 What Happens Next?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The cricket world was rocked earlier this month when Kagiso Rabada, one of South Africa\u2019s premier fast bowlers, confirmed he had tested positive for a banned recreational substance. This admission stirred widespread speculation, with many questioning which drug had been involved. Over the weekend, however, <em><a href=\"https:\/\/iol.co.za\/sport\/cricket\/2025-05-12-substance-kagiso-rabada-tested-positive-for-revealed\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Rapport<\/a><\/em> confirmed that the substance found in Rabada\u2019s system was cocaine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-tested-during-sa20\">Tested During SA20<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Rabada\u2019s positive test came after a routine check conducted by the South African Institute for Drug-Free Sport (SAIDS) during the SA20 tournament. The test took place on 21 January, following a fixture between MI Cape Town and Durban\u2019s Super Giants in Durban. The CEO of SAIDS, Khalid Galant, confirmed that Rabada was among 16 players tested during the tournament. Importantly, his sample revealed the presence of benzoylecgonine (BZE) \u2014 a metabolite of cocaine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Importantly, Rabada\u2019s use of the drug occurred <em>out of competition<\/em>. He did not take it for performance enhancement but rather recreationally. Nevertheless, the detection of the substance violated anti-doping regulations. Rabada was formally notified of the test result on 1 April.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div id=\"gaute-3524606587\" class=\"gaute-inbetween-content gaute-entity-placement\" style=\"margin-top: 30px;margin-bottom: 30px;margin-left: auto;margin-right: auto;text-align: center;\"><div class=\"gaute-adlabel\">Advertisement<\/div><script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1852772760112594\" crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script><ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display:block;\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-1852772760112594\" \ndata-ad-slot=\"1819787043\" \ndata-ad-format=\"auto\" data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\n<script> \n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); \n<\/script>\n<\/div><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-one-month-ban-already-served\">One-Month Ban Already Served<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>By the time Rabada made the information public, he had already served a one-month suspension. The ban, carried out quietly, took place after his early return from the Indian Premier League (IPL) in April. This return was initially attributed to \u201cpersonal reasons,\u201d but was later confirmed to be due to the adverse test result.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Rabada chose not to contest the findings by requesting a B sample analysis. His decision was praised by Galant: \u201cIf you know you did it, it saves you time and legal fees.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-kagiso-rabada-s-statement\">Kagiso Rabada\u2019s Statement<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The 29-year-old fast bowler issued a heartfelt apology through his only public statement on the matter, expressing deep remorse:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>\u201cI am deeply sorry to all those that I have let down. I will never take the privilege of playing cricket for granted. This privilege is much larger than me. It goes beyond my personal aspirations.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>He acknowledged the provisional suspension and voiced his eagerness to return to professional cricket.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div id=\"gaute-1879028718\" class=\"gaute-inbetween-content gaute-entity-placement\" style=\"margin-top: 30px;margin-bottom: 30px;margin-left: auto;margin-right: auto;text-align: center;\"><div class=\"gaute-adlabel\">Advertisement<\/div><script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1852772760112594\" crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script><ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display:block;\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-1852772760112594\" \ndata-ad-slot=\"1819787043\" \ndata-ad-format=\"auto\" data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\n<script> \n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); \n<\/script>\n<\/div><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-back-in-the-fold-but-not-in-action\">Back in the Fold but Not in Action<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Although Rabada has now rejoined his IPL franchise, the Gujarat Titans, he has not featured in any matches since 29 March. The IPL itself has been put on hold due to rising political tensions between India and Pakistan over Kashmir. League organisers were expected to meet to determine the tournament\u2019s future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Despite the setback, Rabada\u2019s future with the Proteas remains intact. With his suspension behind him, he is expected to be available for selection in the national Test squad. They will face Australia in the upcoming World Test Championship final at Lord\u2019s in London.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Also read: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/africas-travel-indaba-2025-gauteng-tourism-prepares-for-global-spotlight\/\">Africa\u2019s Travel Indaba 2025: Gauteng Tourism Prepares for Global Spotlight<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The cricket world was rocked earlier this month when Kagiso Rabada, one of South Africa\u2019s premier fast bowlers, confirmed he had tested positive for a banned recreational substance. This admission stirred widespread speculation, with many questioning which drug had been involved. Over the weekend, however, Rapport confirmed that the substance found in Rabada\u2019s system was<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":5167,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_focus_keyword":"","rank_math_title":"","rank_math_description":"The cricket world was rocked earlier this month when Kagiso Rabada, one of South Africa\u2019s premier fast bowlers, confirmed he had tested positive for a banned...","footnotes":""},"categories":[56,64],"tags":[1429,265,279],"class_list":{"0":"post-5162","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"category-sports-news","9":"tag-cricket","10":"tag-cricket-sa","11":"tag-kagiso-rabada"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5162","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5162"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5162\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5168,"href":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5162\/revisions\/5168"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5167"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5162"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5162"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5162"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}