Ajax Amsterdam goalkeeper Andre Onana has been suspended for 12 months by European soccer’s governing body UEFA for violating doping rules.
Traces of the banned substance Furosemide were found in the Cameroon international’s urine during an out-of-competition test on October 30, the Dutch champions reported.
It means a year-long ban for the player from all football activities, effective from Friday.
Furosemide is not known to be performance enhancing itself, but can be used to mask the use of other kinds of doping, according to the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).
Onana said the violation was the result of a mistake, as he accidentally took medicine meant for his girlfriend on the morning of October 30.
“I mistakenly took it for an aspirin because the packaging was almost identical, which I greatly regret”, Onana said in a post on his Instagram account.
“I respect the UEFA Appeals Body, but I do not share their decision in this case. I consider it excessive and disproportionate as it has been acknowledged by UEFA that it was an unintentional mistake.”
Ajax and Onana said they would appeal against the ban at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
