Arsenal target Andre Onana will return to action in November after ban for positive drugs test is cut from one year to nine months after Ajax keeper claimed he took his wife's prescription diuretics by mistake when feeling sick and looking for aspirin
- Ajax goalkeeper Andre Onana has seen ban for positive doping test reduced
- He was banned for one year by UEFA but that has now been cut to nine months
- It means the 25-year-old, a target for Arsenal, can return to action in November
- Banned diuretic furosemide was found in his urine after a test last October
Ajax goalkeeper Andre Onana had his ban for a positive doping test cut to nine months on Thursday and can resume playing in November.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport said its judges found Onana was not at significant fault and reduced his one-year ban by UEFA. The ban now ends on November 3.
The ruling could see Arsenal step up its reported interest in signing the 25-year-old Onana, who is cleared to play for Cameroon at the African Cup of Nations in January.
Tiger Woods is oblivious to his scandalous public image at 48
England Rugby World Cup winner Phil Vickery is declared BANKRUPT
Tiger Woods reunites with ex-wife at son's golf championship ceremony
Onana tested positive last October for furosemide, a banned diuretic often used as a masking agent to hide the presence of other drugs.
He said he was feeling unwell and took a pill prescribed for his girlfriend from a packet he mistook for aspirin 'because the packaging was almost identical.'
Anti-doping rules make athletes liable for banned substances in their body, though they can argue they were not at fault nor negligent.
The court said its judges 'considered that a nine-month ban was proportionate to the negligence committed ... but could not accept the goalkeeper's request for the removal of the suspension entirely.'
The case was fast-tracked with the verdict given eight days after the appeal hearing.
Comments
Comments
{{formattedShortCount}}
comments