Andre Onana, Ajax goalie, slapped with 12-month doping ban
- Onana was found with Furosemide in his urine in October 2020
- Ajax Football club however say the goalkeeper unwittingly took the drugs
- Pending an appeal, Onana will serve a 12 month ban and is set to miss a large chunk of this and next season
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Ajax goalkeeper Andre Onana has been suspended for 12 months BY UEFA after he failed a doping test in October 2020.
Source: Getty Images
The Eredivisie club announced on Friday, February 5 that Onana had been found with Furosemide, a forbidden substance, in his urine.
The ban, which was effected from February 5 will apply to all football activities, both on club and international level.
Ajax FC have however come out with an odd explanation on the doping results as they claimed in a statement that Onana took the drugs “unwittingly”.
The club then vowed to appeal the ruling at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
"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 football association's disciplinary body ruled that he did not intend to cheat. However, the European Football Association believes that, according to the prevailing anti-doping rules, an athlete has a duty at all times to ensure that no prohibited substances enter the body." Ajax said in a statement.
Former Manchester United goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar, who is managing director at Ajax, spoke on the ban where he reiterated the club was strongly against performance-enhancing drugs.
“We explicitly renounce performance-enhancing drugs, we obviously stand for a clean sport,” he said.
As it stands, Ajax’s number one is set to miss a large chunk of this season and the next one, including this campaign’s Europa League where they take on French side Lille in the round of 32.
Onana’s ban summed up what has been an extremely frustrating week for Ajax, who are top of the Eredivisie with 50 points.
On Wednesday, it was confirmed that Sebastien Haller, their record signing from West Ham, would not take part in their Europa League campaign after a computer error omitted his name from the team sheet.
Earlier, Legit.ng had reported how Andre Onana who plays as a goalkeeper for Dutch side Ajax won the hearts of many football fans after providing electricity for his mother's hometown of Mengueme in Cameroon.
People of Mengueme are said to have been living in darkness since the creation of the community as they have been using kerosene lamps.
According to Actu Cameroon, Andre Onana had the intention of bringing electricity to the town since he started his football career.
Source: Legit.ng
Ibitoye Shittu Ibitoye Shittu is an award-winning Sports Journalist with more than 10 years of experience in News-writing, reporting and Public Relations. He is a B.SC holder in Mass Communication and can be reached on Twitter @ibishittu
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