A York City Knights player has been banned following a failed drugs test.

David Bates has been found guilty of breaching the Rugby Football League's doping control regulations and suspended for three months.

The banned substance ephedrine was found in the 24-year-old prop forward's urine, ironically in a sample taken following last October's National League One Qualifying Final, when he played for Halifax against York City Knights. Halifax won 34-30 to deny York promotion.

Bates was suspended for three months and fined £100 at an RFL advisory panel hearing in Leeds.

An RFL statement said: "The panel was concerned at the inconsistency with the evidence produced and, therefore, a ban was imposed.

"When considering doping control matters, the advisory panel takes into consideration the merits of each individual case as well as all the evidence that is produced during the hearings."

A Knights spokesman said: "The club confirms that David Bates attended a disciplinary hearing in Leeds when the tribunal imposed a suspension of three months for the use of a banned substance, namely ephedrine."

Bates has seven days from the date of the decision to lodge an appeal.

The Knights' club board is expected to meet later today to discuss how to proceed.

The club, which is currently in National League Two, has lost a key player with the suspension of Bates, who is one of only four prop forwards at the Knights.

He has previously played for Halifax, Batley Bulldogs, Gateshead Thunder, Warrington Wolves, and Castleford Tigers.

His ban comes after Leeds Rhinos and Great Britain pair Keith Senior and Ryan Bailey were each fined £1,500, ordered to pay £700 costs, and severely reprimanded after traces of ephedrine were found in their systems before Christmas. They were not banned from the game.

The RFL's advisory panel accepted that the substance was contained in a cold cure which both had declared taking before their positive tests.

RFL spokesman John Huxley would not comment further about any of the cases.

The World Anti-Doping Agency guidelines classify ephedrine as a "specified substance" that is "particularly susceptible to unintentional anti-doping violations" - and therefore should not necessarily carry a ban.

The cases of Senior and Bailey highlighted a need to raise players' awareness of what they can and cannot take.

Ephedrine is a drug derived from the plant Ephedra equisetina, and is used as a stimulant and decongestant. A synthetic form of the drug is also found in cold and allergy products.

It can also increase blood pressure and heart rate, while it is claimed to aid weight loss, improve athletic performance and concentration.

Club has been here before

YORK City Knights were hit by a similar blow last year when another of its rugby league stars was suspended from the game after failing a drugs test.

York-born winger Alex Godfrey tested positive for an element of a banned substance.

The Rugby Football League's Advisory Panel imposed a two-year ban for a breach of its doping control regulations in July 2004.

A statement from the RFL confirmed that Godfrey had been found guilty of providing a sample containing Benzoylecgonine.

A website run by Government agency UK Sport, the body responsible for supporting athletes, defined Benzoylecgonine as a "diagnostic metabolite of cocaine".

Godfrey - the club's leading try-scorer at the time - protested his innocence although no details surrounding the nature of his defence were released.

He appealed against the ruling, but an independent adjudication panel upheld the original two-year suspension.

Godfrey started his career with York Wasps, starring in the 1998 side who were runners-up in the old second division, before moving on to have successful spells with Dewsbury Rams and Hull KR.

He returned to Huntington Stadium with the Knights, scoring the new club's first-ever try, against Hull KR.

Updated: 10:17 Saturday, January 29, 2005