A professional footballer is under investigation after refusing to take a drugs test while latest doping figures have also put the spotlight on rugby union and rugby league.

The player, who is not being named by the Football Association, refused to take a test between January and March this year. A report by drug-testing body UK Sport says: "The player has been interviewed by the FA and an investigation is on-going."

Meanwhile, four rugby union players and three rugby league professionals tested positive for banned substances in the first quarter of this year.

Rugby league has had a bad record in the past, though the game's national governing body point to the fact the number of positive tests has halved from a total of 18 in 2001/02 to nine during the 12 months up to March 31st, 2003.

In the most recent figures, two rugby league players tested positive for steroids.

One is Halifax's Australian player Dane Dorahy who escaped with a reprimand for use of stanozol after a disciplinary panel accepted his explanation that he retired from the game and had been given the substance as part of his medical treatment Down Under.

He then decided to make a comeback.

The other player, who tested positive for the anabolic steroid nandrolone, has been given a six-month ban but suspended for six months. The RFL are not releasing his name "on medical advice".

None of the four rugby union players represent Zurich Premiership sides. Three of the quartet tested positive for stimulants of the sort contained in cold cures and of these two are still under investigation and the other, who has not been named, was suspended for 14 days in March.

The fourth rugby union player involved was South African Andre Barnard, who refused to take a test while playing for Blackpool Fylde and was banned for two years.

UK Sport also published their annual figures yesterday which showed that the battle against drugs in sport appears to be being won.

In the year ending March 21st a record number of 7,240 tests - an increase of 1,231 from the previous 12 months - were carried out but the number of positive findings is down from 101 to 100. That represents 1.38 per cent of those tested, compared to the worldwide figure of two per cent.

Of those falling foul of the testers 49 were found to have taken stimulants while 26 were for anabolic agents and 16 for refusals to take a test.

"We know that the vast majority of athletes are committed to competing drug-free and this is borne out by the figures," said Michele Verroken, director of drug-free sport at UK Sport.

"The fact that the number of adverse findings among sportsmen and women has remained almost the same as last year despite more than 1,000 additional tests being carried out, is encouraging."

Despite the improved figures, positive tests for cocaine, which recently resulted in Chelsea goalkeeper Mark Bosnich being punished with a nine-month ban, have increased.

Verroken, who has previously described cocaine as "the drug of choice" for competitors because it stays in the body for less than half the time of a substance like marijuana, said: "Its more to do with the increasing availability in society of cocaine and its low price on the streets."

Richard Callicott, UK Sports chief executive, said: "The next 12 months will see major steps being made in the fight for drug-free sport as the implementation of the World Anti-Doping Code draws nearer.

"We have already started to work on the UK's own anti-doping policy to ensure compliance and we will continue to work with the athletes, governing bodies and other partner organisations to ensure a smooth transition to the code."

Major steps forward have been taken with golf, which is keen to implement the anti-doping policy, and UK Sport also hope to be at the Wimbledon tennis championships for the first time this year. Attempts are also being made to crack the whip with horse racing.