Celtic Crusaders winger Craig Richards has been handed a two-year ban after testing positive for a recreational drug.

Richards returned a sample in May containing the banned recreational substance benzoylecgonine - a metabolite of cocaine - and appeared before a Rugby Football League tribunal this week.

Crusaders chief executive David Thompson said: "Celtic Crusaders accept the decision of the RFL and condemn the use of illegal drugs in every sphere of life."

Richards, 28, who joined the Crusaders from Newport at the start of the season, has not played for them since May and has had his contract terminated.

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