Reuters reported earlier this month that English rugby player, Matt Stevens confessed to having alcohol binges and abusing cocaine on a regular basis. Matt Stevens confessed to all of his substance abuse problems just before receiving a two-year ban from playing the sport after testing positive for cocaine use during a drug screening.

In an interview earlier this month, Matt Stevens stated that he would quit the Bath rugby club in order to take the time needed to put his life back together. “It was a vicious circle,” said Stevens. “It would always be at the end of a drinking binge – do coke, hate myself, vow never to do it again and then do so.”

Before the scandal, Matt Stevens played rugby over 30 different times for England. However, after playing in a Heineken Cup for the Bath rugby team in December, Stevens failed a random drug screening. Matt Stevens is now banned from all rugby-related activities until the year 2011. 

Matt Stevens has admitted that his addiction was fueled by deep self loathing and other personal issues. Stevens admitted to going on cocaine binges for three days in a row; sometimes right before games. “I can’t believe I would do that to myself,” said Stevens. “I am a confident, ambitious, social person. That I would be addicted to anything is completely incomprehensible to me right now.”