France, Denmark and Australia captains ask for Peru captain's ban for taking cocaine to be lifted

[decapitated]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/44207640

 

Quote

The captains of Australia, Denmark and France have asked Fifa to lift the ban on Paolo Guerrero - the skipper of group rivals Peru - so he can play at this summer's World Cup in Russia.

Guerrero, who tested positive for prohibited substance cocaine in October - he says he ingested it by drinking tea - is serving a 14-month ban.

The letter to football's world governing body asks for a "temporary interruption" to his suspension so he can appear for Peru at their first World Cup in 36 years.

Signed by Australia's Mile Jedinak, Denmark's Simon Kjaer and France's Hugo Lloris, the document - released by world players' union FIFPro - asks Fifa for "compassion" and an "equitable and rightful solution" which would allow Guerrero to reach the "pinnacle" of his career.

Guerrero, 34, tested positive for cocaine after a qualifier against Argentina on 6 October and was initially banned for 12 months.

His suspension was halved by Fifa's appeal committee but the World Anti-Doping Agency appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas) and they imposed the 14-month ban.

Peru beat New Zealand over two legs in a play-off in November to qualify for the World Cup, their first appearance at the tournament since 1982.

 

[Baptista_8]

Ha no way, fair play.

[georginho_juventusygr]

I support the idea. The wrong tea wasn't his fault.

[decapitated]

If its a ruling from CAS, I don't think theres anything FIFA can do anyway but its a nice gesture from the other teams.

[av3ry]

Cocaine flavoured tea eh? Interesting.

[enigmatic]

48 minutes ago, av3ry said:

Cocaine flavoured tea eh? Interesting.

I assume he was drinking Mate de Coca, which happens to be Peruvians' national drink as well as something footballers wishing to pass drugs tests should definitely avoid

[Razzler]

Has anyone ever been caught injesting something that wasn't accidentally in a tea or something else?

Also, not quite sure the bans work like this 'we don't mind, let him off'

[enigmatic]

1 hour ago, Razzler said:

Has anyone ever been caught injesting something that wasn't accidentally in a tea or something else?

Also, not quite sure the bans work like this 'we don't mind, let him off'

Most people plead not guilty to most things regardless of whether they are or not.

Think the reason this guy's getting more sympathy than usual is that the substance in question is neither potential performance enhancing nor illegal where he consumed it and anyone casually familiar with Andes culture knows you're going to have to be very careful which cups of tea you accept to never test positive.

That and the whole saga of his ban being halved by FIFA accepting the circumstances allowing him to play in the World Cup, then WADA wading in where they hadn't bothered wading in before and demanding he got a longer than average ban instead.

[Razzler]

If it's on the banned list it doesn't really matter whether it's 'allowed' to be consumed in other areas though.

I think recreational stuff isn't as bad as performance enhancing, so to speak but you're going to get nabbed for it. He may be the only guy that genuinely didn't know what was in his drink but that is everyone's response

[PaulHartman71]

Imagine if they clear him and he scores a goal that knocks one of them out  Fair play to them I guess, doesn't sound like he was doing anything dodgy, but have to be careful with these things. It can't be that common for players to unknowingly or knowingly drink it otherwise surely loads of their players would get banned all the time. 

[sebsy]

Where can I get some of this cocaine tea?

I applaud the sportsmanship aspect of the 3 nations asking for his ban to be temporarily lifted, but don't agree with it at all. He has been banned for taking drugs, and should serve the relevant ban without fail. I also imagine they wouldn't be doing this if it was Argentina in their group and Messi was the player in question.

[Neil Brock]

23 hours ago, sebsy said:

Where can I get some of this cocaine tea?

I applaud the sportsmanship aspect of the 3 nations asking for his ban to be temporarily lifted, but don't agree with it at all. He has been banned for taking drugs, and should serve the relevant ban without fail. I also imagine they wouldn't be doing this if it was Argentina in their group and Messi was the player in question.

But the reality is that cocaine isn't seen as a performance enhancing drug, and that he's been given a 14 month ban for it. Crime doesn't seem to fit the punishment. 

Comparatively you have a number of boxers in recent months who have been found to have taken performance enhancing drugs and only been given six month bans. Why isn't WADA stepping in on these cases and extending the bans? 

[Deisler26]

Yeah, I agree that the punishments vastly outstrips the crime here.

[Spurs08]

I don't see why they even test for, even less so ban, recreational drugs which don't enhance performance. It's not hurting anyone except themselves. And certainly isn't in any way doping.

[Blue Lou]

https://apnews.com/7300c1423b554b2ab5156506a4b12ad2/CAS-won't-object-if-Peru-captain-is-cleared-for-World-Cup

Quote

 

As a Swiss federal court ponders Paolo Guerrero’s appeal, the Court of Arbitration for Sport said Thursday it would not intervene in the banned Peru captain’s legal campaign to play at the World Cup.

CAS said it will “not object” if a federal judge decides to freeze Guerrero’s 14-month doping ban.

Still, the decision on Guerrero’s case rests with Switzerland’s supreme court, which can intervene if legal process was abused. A judge could make an interim ruling putting the ban on hold until full consideration of the case at a later date.

The interim federal verdict could come Thursday, ahead of FIFA’s Monday deadline for Peru to finalize its 23-man World Cup squad.

Guerrero tested positive for a metabolite of cocaine at a World Cup qualifying game against Argentina in October. He argued that the stimulant had not been performance enhancing, and was accidentally consumed in contaminated tea.

CAS accepted his argument when it heard Guerrero’s appeal on May 3. His FIFA-imposed ban of six months had expired that same day.

However, the CAS judges increased the ban to 14 months, upholding a counter-appeal by the World Anti-Doping Agency. The panel decided a ban to January 2019 was an “appropriate sanction ... in light of Mr. Guerrero’s degree of fault.”

The 34-year-old Guerrero was set to captain Peru in Russia at its first World Cup appearance since 1982. Peru is in a group with France, Denmark and Australia.

 

 

[Blue Lou]

He's been cleared to play in the World Cup.

[PMLF]

Yes, great news.

[Nordan]

Would never have happened without this thread.

 

[georginho_juventusygr]

In your face, WADA.