Amsterdam: Cameroon international and Ajax goalkeeper Andre Onana, who was linked with Chelsea and Borussia Dortmund recently, has been suspended by UEFA for failing a dope test. He was handed a 12-month suspension. However, the club claimed that their no.1 ‘keeper accidentally took medicine prescribed for his wife.
The club revealed that Onana has been banned by UEFA after it found a forbidden substance Furosemide in his urine, following an out-of-competition test in October last year. The doping suspension is effective from February 5 and applies to all football activities.
The club issued a statement on the website which said, “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.”
“We explicitly renounce performance-enhancing drugs, we obviously stand for a clean sport,” Ajax MD and former goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar said. “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.”
