Flamengo’s international striker Gabriel Barbosa was banned for two years on Monday for attempting to cheat during a doping test, a Brazilian sports court said. The 27-year-old Brazilian, known as Gabigol, allegedly failed to cooperate during a surprise doping test at the club’s headquarters in Rio de Janeiro. The sentence, which can be appealed, is backdated to April 8 last year, when the events took place. He did not stick to the schedule, had no respect for doping officials and refused to follow instructions, according to local media.
“The aforementioned athlete was tried today by the Full Court of Sports Anti-Doping and by majority vote it was decided that there had been an anti-doping rule violation of fraud,” the court said in a statement to AFP.
Gabigol then hit back on social media, saying: “I have never tried to obstruct or cheat on a test.”
“I am confident that I will be found innocent by the highest court,” he added.
Flamengo said in a statement that it would support and assist its player in his appeal “as there was no fraud whatsoever”.
On the test day, Gabigol’s teammates underwent tests in the morning while he ignored a request to attend and attend after lunch, according to the accusation.
When he finally arrived to be tested, he reportedly became upset because an officer escorted him to the bathroom.
In addition, he did not respect the sampling protocol, according to the accusation.
Gabigol, a key figure in Flamengo’s domestic league and Copa Libertadores titles in 2019, has consistently denied attempting to cheat during the test.
“The Flamengo player has confirmed that the test was carried out and the result was negative,” his lawyer said in December, when the allegations first surfaced.
“Given this information, there is nothing that could compromise or violate the protocol,” the lawyer added.
Gabigol had disappointing spells at Portuguese side Benfica and Inter Milan in Italy after coming through Santos’ youth academy before joining Flamengo in 2019.
His return to form for Flamengo earned him call-ups to the Brazil squad and he made the last of his 18 international appearances in January 2022.
Gabigol’s contract with Flamengo expires in December.
(This story has not been edited by WhatsNew2Day staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Topics mentioned in this article