BEVERLY HILLS, February 05, (THEWILL) – Cameroon international and Ajax goalkeeper, Andre Onana, has failed a drugs test and, consequently, been suspended for 12 months forthwith.
The 24-year-old took a standard out-of-competition test on October 30 last year, and the banned substance furosemide was detected in his urine which led to the penalty. The ban applies to all club and international football within the 12-month period.
Ajax reacted to the news by issuing a statement on their website where they strongly defended their keeper:
“On the morning of October 30, Onana was not feeling well. He wanted to take a tablet for that. Unconsciously, however, he took Lasimac, a drug that his wife had previously been prescribed.
“Onana made a mistake about the product, mistakenly taking his wife’s medicine, ultimately resulting in this measure taken by UEFA against the goalkeeper. In addition, the disciplinary body of the football association declared that he had no intention of cheating.
“However, the European Football Association believes, on the basis of the anti-doping rules in force, that an athlete has a duty at all times to ensure that no banned substances enter the body.”
The club and Onana intend to head to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to appeal against the suspension.
Ajax’s managing director, former goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar said: “We explicitly renounce performance-enhancing means, 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 twelve months, because it was arguably not intended to strengthen his body and thus improve his performance.”
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
