Staying alive: Jarryd Hayne’s Olympic dream revived as World Rugby approves switch to sevens from NFL
Former San Francisco 49ers running back Jarryd Hayne was eligible to play for the Fiji sevens rugby team at the Olympics and as early as the world series event in London this weekend, World Rugby said on Monday.
Former San Francisco 49ers running back Jarryd Hayne was eligible to play for the Fiji sevens rugby team at the Olympics and as early as the world series event in London this weekend, World Rugby said on Monday.
Hayne, who played eight times with one start for the 49ers as a rookie last year, announced on Sunday he was quitting the NFL.
Hayne would be eligible for the London round of the world rugby sevens series subject to all other regulatory and registration matters being met
The 28-year-old former rugby league star said he was joining Fiji in the hope of making its squad for the Rio de Janeiro Games. Hayne qualifies for Fiji through his Fijian father, and has played international rugby league for the Pacific nation.
But questions have been raised over his eligibility because he has not recently been part of a registered drug-testing programme.
A former head of the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Agency, Richard Ings, expressed doubts earlier on Monday that Hayne would be able to make an immediate transition to rugby because the NFL was not compliant with World Anti-Doping Agency testing requirements.
Ings said World Rugby required a player to be in a registered drug-testing pool for six months before becoming eligible to play in its sanctioned tournaments.
“If Jarryd Hayne had been playing in a Wada-compliant sport, he would have grounds to reduce the six months,” Ings said. “But NFL is PED [performance-enhancing drugs] badlands. No chance.”
