Cameroon’s goalkeeper has been suspended by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) over violation of anti-doping rules, reports said on Friday.
This is a terrible blow for the Cameroonian goalkeeper suspended for doping voilation. 24 year-old Onana may miss the African Cup of Nations (Can) 2022 organised in his country. “The disciplinary committee of the European football association UEFA has imposed a 12-month suspension on André Onana for violating anti-doping rules. After an out-of-competition test on October 30, last year, Furosemide was found in the goalkeeper’s urine,” reads the UEFA press release.
The latter specified that “the suspension is effective as of today and applies to all football activities, both national and international.”
Ajax Amsterdam, the Dutch club where André Onana plays, gave the explanation of this positive control and announced that it will appeal against the decision before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
“On the morning of 30 October Onana did not feel well. He wanted to take a tablet. Unwittingly, however, he took Lasimac, a drug that his wife had previously been prescribed. “Onana made a mistake with the product and mistakenly took his wife’s medicine, which ultimately led to UEFA’s action against the goalkeeper,” the club explained in a statement.
“Furthermore, Ajax continued, the disciplinary body of the football association said Onana had no intention of cheating. However, the European Football Association believed, on the basis of the applicable anti-doping rules, that an athlete has a duty at all times to ensure that no prohibited substance enters their body.”
Whatever the outcome of this affair, this episode is a huge blow for the player, who has become a pillar of Ajax and the Indomitable Lions selection, and who enjoys a very good quotation on the transfer market.
ARD/cgd/lb/abj/APA