Former Sunderland youth player Lewis Gibbons has been given a two-year ban from all football for failing a drugs test.

Gibbons admitted two breaches of The FA’s Anti-Doping Regulations after testing positive for two prohibited substances following his side’s under-18 league match against Aston Villa on 22 September 2012.

The substances were:-

i) Benzoylecgonine, a metabolite of cocaine.

ii) 11-nor-delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol-9-carbosylic acird, commonly known as cannabis.

The case was heard by an Independent Regulatory Commission on 18 December 2012. Following the conclusion of the case an appeal was lodged, but this has since been withdrawn.

The player’s suspension has been back-dated to 18 October 2012, which was the date The FA provisionally suspended Gibbons. In addition, the player will be subject to target testing for a period of two years from 18 October 2014.