UEFA has banned Amsterdam Ajax goalkeeper Andre Onana for 12 months for a doping break, just days after the club’s record signed Sebastien Haller was left off their Europa League roster.
After a drug test on October 30 last year, the substance Furosemide was found in the urine of Onana. The ban is effective immediately and applies to all football activities, both national and international.
Onana is said to have mistakenly taken a Lasimac tablet prescribed for his wife after feeling ill.
UEFA has said Onana had no intention of cheating. However, the European Football Association states that it is the responsibility of an athlete to ensure that prohibited substances do not enter his or her body.
“We are very much rejecting performance-enhancing drugs, we are clearly standing up for clean sport,” said Ajax managing director Edwin van der Sar. also for us as a club. Andre is a top keeper, who has proven his worth to Ajax for years and is very popular with the fans.
“We had been hoping to suspend a contract or for a ban much shorter than those twelve months, because it can be said that he did not want to strengthen his body and thus improve his performance.”
Onana and Ajax will appeal against the decision to the Court of Arbitration of Sport.