By Nick Butler

Latvia face disqualification from Sochi 2014 if a second player is found to have failed a drugs test ©AFP/Getty ImagesMarch 5 - Latvia are facing possible disqualification from the Sochi 2014 Olympic men's ice hockey tournament after reports a second player from the country has failed a drugs test.


Forward Vitalijs Pavlovs was thrown out of the Games last month after testing positive for the stimulant methylhexaneamine and it has been reported this week that an unnamed second player has also failed a test.

Latvian Olympic Committee secretary general Zorzs Tikmer wrote on Twitter that he "can only confirm that there is another suspect test from hockey", before adding that he was unable to comment further because an International Olympic Committee (IOC) Disciplinary Commission hearing was underway. 

When asked about the hearing, an IOC spokesperson told insidethegames that they "are not in a position to comment". 

The spokesperson added: "We have a strict procedure in place and, as a general rule, we will only communicate when a process is completed and a decision is reached."

There are reports in Latvia that the player to have failed the second test is Ralfs Freibergs - the only United States collegiate player to have participated in Sochi - but this remains unconfirmed at this stage.

Under IOC rules, ice hockey teams only face disqualification from the Olympics if more than one player in a team commits an anti-doping rule violation.

Vitalijs Pavlovs became the first Latvian player to test positive before the side's quarter-final loss to Canada ©Getty ImagesVitalijs Pavlovs became the first Latvian player to test positive before the side's quarter-final loss to Canada ©Getty Images

No team has ever had two players test positive in the same Games before and if Latvia were disqualified this would be the first time this has occurred for doping offences. 

The entire team may be subject to "target testing" if it is determined multiple athletes failed tests, and the IOC also has the power to withhold funding from the Latvian Olympic Committee.

This news comes after Latvia's best ever placing at the Games in their fifth appearance, surpassing their ninth place finish in Salt Lake City 2002, after they knocked-out Switzerland and gave eventual winners Canada a scare by taking them to overtime before losing 2-1 in their quarter-final clash.

Latvia rose to 10th place in the International Ice Hockey Federation world rankings as a result of this success - but would lose the ranking points they gained in Sochi if they were disqualified - with this holding ramifications regarding their qualification for future tournaments. 

Confirmation of the failed test would also mark the seventh drugs case since the beginning of the Olympics in Sochi and the third involving an ice hockey player.

German biathlete Evi Sachenbacher-Stehle was the first to test positive, followed by Italian bobsledder William Frullani, Ukrainian cross-country skier Marina Lisogor, Swedish ice hockey player Nicklas Bäckström, Austrian cross-country skier Johannes Duerr and Pavlovs,

Of those six the first five tested positive for banned stimulants while Duerr failed for erythropoietin (EPO).