DUBLIN — Six players from Georgia’s rugby team have been handed long bans — including one for 11 years — for their involvement in a urine-swapping scheme to cheat anti-doping tests in one of the sport’s biggest corruption scandals.

The case was described by World Rugby on Tuesday as “the most extensive anti-doping investigation ever undertaken in rugby.”

Former captain Merab Sharikadze was given the 11-year ban, while Giorgi Chkoidze was banned for six years, and Lasha Khmaladze, Otar Lashkhi and Miriani Modebadze received three-year suspensions. Lasha Lomidze was banned for nine months.

Merab Sharikadze, the captain of Georgia, holds Antim Cup after the 2024 Rugby Europe Championship semi-final match between Georgia and Romania at Mikheil Meskhi Stadium on March 2, 2024.…