Former Georgia captain Merab Sharikadze has received an 11-year ban for anti-doping violations following a World Rugby investigation that has also resulted in the suspension of a further five Los Lelos players and a staff member.
Sharikadze, the 32-year-old centre who has made over 100 appearances for Georgia, is the most heavily sanctioned for tampering with urine samples over an extended period before the 2023 World Cup.
Giorgi Chkoidze (six years), Lasha Khmaladze (three years), Mirian Modebadze (three years), Otar Lashkhi (three years), Lasha Lomidze (nine months) and Dr Nutsa Shamatava (nine years) are also prohibited from taking part in any rugby activities.
World Rugby, who worked in conjunction with WADA, was first alerted when irregularities in urine samples were identified by its athlete passport management programme.
While initially working off the basis that the urine sample substitutions were to mask performance-enhancing substances, evidence was found to support the players' claims that the tampering was intended to conceal the use of cannabis and tramadol.
The Georgia Rugby Union has also been hit with a misconduct charge for bringing the game into disrepute after a number of players and staff "wilfully failed to comply with their anti-doping obligations."
The charge was accepted and the union has agreed to a financial sanction and must implement anti-doping reforms.
World Rugby chief executive Alan Gilpin said: "This case demonstrates the importance of operating a robust, science-led anti-doping programme with coordinated biological profile analysis, testing and long-term storage functions.
"Our extensive four-year investigation has helped identify subversion of the doping control process and sends a clear message that World Rugby takes all anti-doping matters extremely seriously and is an unwavering champion of clean sport."