Ajax Goalkeeper, Andre Onana, Banned For One Year After Failing Dope Test

Cameroonian national team goalkeeper, Andre Onana, has been banned from football for one year after failing an out-of-competition doping test. The Ajax of Holland shot-stopper was banned by UEFA on Friday, February 5, 2021, after a forbidden substance, Furosemide, was found in the urine of the best African goalkeeper in October 2020. Onana has claimed that he felt sick in October and took the drug which had been prescribed for his girlfriend without knowledge that it contains a banned substance for footballers. He also revealed that he mistook the drug for aspirin. However, UEFA’s disciplinary committee established the fact that Onana had not taken the drug to enhance his performance, but maintained that footballers must always be careful of substances they take.

Reacting to the ban, a statement from Ajax reads:

On the morning of October 30, Onana was feeling unwell. He wanted to take a pill to ease the discomfort. Unknowingly, however, he took Lasimac, a drug that his wife had previously been prescribed.

Onana’s confusion resulted in him mistakenly taking his wife’s medicine, ultimately causing this measure to be taken by UEFA against the goalkeeper.

Furthermore, the disciplinary body of the football association has stated that Onana had no intention of cheating. However, the European Football Association believes, on the basis of the applicable anti-doping rules, that an athlete has a duty at all times to ensure that no banned substances enter the body

Ajax

Ajax has revealed that they will appeal their goalkeeper’s ban in the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). Former Manchester United goalkeeper and managing director of Ajax, Edwin van der Sar, has backed Onana and noted that the club condemns all form of performing-enhancing drugs.

We explicitly renounce performance-enhancing drugs, we obviously stand for a clean sport. This is a terrible setback, for Andre himself but certainly also for us as a club. Andre is a top goalkeeper, who has proven his worth for Ajax for years and is very popular with the fans. We had hoped for a conditional suspension or for a suspension much shorter than these 12 months, because it was arguably not intended to strengthen his body and thus improve his performance

Edwin van der Sar

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