FIFA suspend Ivory Coast goalkeeper Gbohouo for 18 months for taking banned drugs

FIFA has suspended Ivory Coast international goalkeeper Sylvain Gbohouo for 18 months after he tested positive for the banned substance Trimetazidine.

The 33-year-old goalkeeper has been serving a provisional suspension after a positive test in the World Cup qualifiers, when the Ivory Coast played Cameroon in Yaounde 

“On 16 November 2021, the Ivorian player Sylvain Gbohouo was subjected to doping control after the match played in the frame of the preliminary competition for the Fifa World Cup Qatar 2022,” read part of the ruling.

“On 18 December 2021, the aforementioned laboratory reported the analysis results via the Anti-Doping Administration and Management System (ADAMS), where it was stated that the player’s urine sample had returned an Adverse Analytical Finding for the substance Trimetazidine, a non-specified substance prohibited under the World Anti-Doping Code (WADC) International Standard Prohibited List 2021.”

In the hearing, the player admitted to having used the substance unknowingly after a visit to the eye doctor.

The Disciplinary Board said the player will be out until mid-2023.

“The player, Mr. Sylvain Gbohouo, is sanctioned with a period of ineligibility of 18 months for having infringed the relevant provision of the Fifa Disciplinary Code related to Doping as well as the relevant provision of the Fifa Anti-Doping Regulations sanctioning the Presence of a Prohibited Substance or its Metabolites or Markers in a Player’s Sample,” the statement affirmed.

“This period of Ineligibility shall run from 23 December 2021 until 23 June 2023.

“The aforementioned sanction covers the participation, in any capacity, in a competition or activity authorised or organised by Fifa or any association, a club or other member organisation of an association, or in competitions authorised or organised by any professional league or any international or national – level competition organisation or any elite or national level sporting activity funded by a governmental agency.”