Onana, suspended one year for doping: “I confused an illegal drug with an aspirin”

André Onana will be a year off the pitch with both Ajax and his national team. The Cameroonian goalkeeper has been sanctioned for doping by UEFA after furosemide was found in his urine at an out-of-competition test on 30 October last year.

Ajax, through a statement, has given the news and has offered more details of what happened. According to the club, the goalkeeper on the morning of October 30, 2020 had a general malaise and wanted to take medication to relieve the discomfort. Unknowingly, Onana took a tablet of Lasimac, a medication that had been prescribed for his wife. This medicine contained the aforementioned furosemide, a diuretic, which was detected a posteriori in the goalkeeper's urine sample after an out-of-competition doping control.

Onana has expressed her not intention to dope or obtain any benefit from this substance but the European Football Association considers, according to Ajax, that the goalkeeper has the duty to ensure at all times that no substance considered doping enters the body. This substance, being a diuretic, is not considered a dopant for use but is prohibited by the World Anti-Doping Agency, since it can be used to accelerate elimination through urine of others that could have been previously used by the athlete in question to avoid testing positive.

Furosemide is included in the list of prohibited substances for 2021 published by the WADA and that entered into force on January 1, 2020. It is categorized among those that cannot be used neither in competition nor out of competition, at which time, According to Ajax, André Onana was checked. This substance is commonly used in medicine with the intention of 'speeding up' the functioning of the kidneys so that they urinate more frequently. In Spain, it is always administered under medical prescription.

The player issued a statement minutes after the sanction was known. “I want to clarify that everything has been the result of a human error when confusing a drug that contained a substance prohibited by the WADA with a simple aspirin. This drug was prescribed to my girlfriend, and, by mistake, I confused it with a drug for the cold because the wrappers were almost identical, which I greatly regret “.

Ajax and Onana will resort to TAS

Both Onana and Ajax have announced that they will appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. In its statement, Ajax has demonstrated its support for the goal publicly through Edwin Van der Sar, who came out to assess the case. “We explicitly renounce any performance-enhancing drugs and advocate for clean sport. This is a terrible setback for André and for us as a club.. He is a great goalkeeper, he has shown it for years and also very popular with fans. We expected a shorter suspension than these twelve months as André had no intention of improving his performance, “said the former goalkeeper of the Dutch club.