Doping: Five footballers banned so far for artificially boosting performances
New Delhi: Doping in football, as described by FIFA, is when players take a prohibited substance or use prohibited methods to improve their performance.
Five footballers have so far been suspended or banned from football after being found involved in doping.
They are:
- Diego Maradona; The Argentine icon, nicknamed the ‘Hand of God,’, was banned from football twice—for 15 months after he tested positive for cocaine while playing for Napoli FC and again during the World Cup in the USA;
- Deco: The Portuguese legend who played for Benfica FC, FC Porto, Chelsea FC, and FC Barcelona. He was banned from the game after his retirement in 2013. Deco tested positive for furosemide in March 2013. However, his ban was officially announced after his retirement to ensure it didn’t destroy his football career.
- Andre Onana: A Cameroonian and Manchester United goalkeeper, who once took his wife’s pills accidentally. It made him test positive for furosemide while he was playing for Ajax FC in 2021. Onana was banned by the European governing body from football for nine months.
- Pep Guardiola: A Spanish footballer and football manager, who was once banned from playing football for four months after testing positive for testosterone while playing for FC Brescia in Italy. However, he is currently regarded as the best football coach in the world, leading Manchester City FC to win the UEFA Champions League, English Premier League, and the FA Cup; and,
- Poul Pogba: The French star and the World Cup winner is the latest footballer to receive a ban due to doping. Pogba has been banned for four years from football by Italy’s anti-doping court after he tested positive for testosterone
Many sports bodies view doping as a destroyer of the sports spirit and fair sport as it enhances sports performance by boosting the body’s energy.
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) explains specifically androgens, blood doping, peptide hormones, stimulants, cannabinoids, narcotics, and diuretics as the categories of prohibited substances and techniques in sports.
