UEFA bans Onana, Cameroon goalkeeper, for one year over doping violation

Andre Onana, a Cameroonian goalkeeper who plays for Ajax, has been banned by UEFA for one year over doping violation.

In a statement on Friday, the Dutch football giants said Onana had “mistakenly” taken his wife’s medicine which had led to the banned diuretic Furosemide found in his urine.

“The disciplinary body of the European football association, UEFA, has imposed a suspension of 12 months on Andre Onana for a doping violation,” the statement read.

“After an “out of competition” check on October 30 last year, the goalkeeper found the substance Furosemide in his urine. The suspension is effective from today and applies to all football activities, both national and international.

“On the morning of October 30, Onana was feeling unwell. He wanted to take a pill to ease the discomfort. Unknowingly, however, he took Lasimac, a drug that his wife had previously been prescribed. Onana’s confusion resulted in him mistakenly taking his wife’s medicine, ultimately causing this measure to be taken by UEFA against the goalkeeper.

“Furthermore, the disciplinary body of the football association has stated that Onana had no intention of cheating. However, the European Football Association believes, on the basis of the applicable anti-doping rules, that an athlete has a duty at all times to ensure that no banned substances enter the body.”

On his part, Edwin van der Sar, Ajax’s managing director, disclosed that the Eredivise side will appeal Onana’s ban at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

“We explicitly renounce performance-enhancing drugs; we stand for a clean sport. This is a terrible setback, for Andre himself but certainly also for us as a club,” he said.

“Andre is a top goalkeeper who has proven his worth for Ajax for many years and is very popular with the fans. We had hoped for a conditional suspension or a much shorter one than this twelve months, because it was demonstrably not meant to strengthen his body and thus improve his performance.”

The 24-year-old also took to his Twitter page to issue a lengthy statement wherein he explained that he had mistaken his wife’s medicine for aspirin because the packaging was “almost identical”.

He thereafter described the ban on him as “excessive and disproportionate”.

Official Statement #AO24 pic.twitter.com/BgyoO5D59b

— Andre Onana (@AndreyOnana) February 5, 2021

Onana joined Ajax from Barcelona in 2015 and this season, he had kept nine clean sheets in 20 league games.

He also played every minute of their Champions League group-stage campaign, where they finished third behind Liverpool and Atalanta to drop down to the Europa League.

If the appeal fails, he will miss the delayed 2021 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) scheduled to take place in his country in January 2022.