The attacking midfielder of Peruvian football team, Joel Sanchez, has been suspended for a couple of years for doping. FIFA announced Sanchez’s suspension on Friday.
After Peru’s World Cup qualifying match against Bolivia in October last year, Sanchez was found positive for Methylhexaneamine which is a banned item.
This is not great news for the Peruvian football team. Peru is currently at the 8th position in the points table of South American World Cup qualifying group. Out of the nine world cup qualifying matches that they have played so far, they have won 2, have lost 5 and have shared points in 2 matches. So, their chances of qualifying for the World Cup are not very good. And, now, they have lost one of their key players.
The Peru team management has got this bad news just 20 days before their next World Cup qualifying match against Chile.
Sanchez will not be able to feature for Peru in any friendly or official match. He has also been banned from playing any match at the domestic level. Sanchez’s ban will end on 21st January 2015.
This was a very harsh decision by FIFA. Sanchez was not expected to be banned for duration of 2 years. For substances like Methylhexaneamine, UEFA generally bans players for 1 year.
In August last year, a couple of players from FK Rabotnicki (a club from Macedonia) were found positive for Methylhexaneamine after a Europa League clash against S.S. Lazio (a club from Rome). Both those players were banned for 12 months. Sanchez was also expected to be banned for the same duration, but, that didn’t happen.
Methylhexaneamine is one of those substances which can be taken without the intention of doping. If Sanchez wants his ban period to be reduced, he will have to prove that he didn’t take Methylhexaneamine with the intention of doping.