Brazilian footballer Lucas suspended for two years

Brazil News.Net
Thursday 11th September, 2008 (IANS)

Brazilian football player Ricardo Lucas was Thursday suspended for two years after testing positive for a banned substance.

The 34-year-old, who is known as Dodo, tested positive for amphetamine after a league match in June 2007 for the club he then played for, Botafogo.

The striker, however, was cleared by the highest Brazilian sports authorities (Superior Tribunal de Justica Desportiva do Futebol), prompting the World Anti-Doping Agency and football's governing body FIFA to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

CAS said in a statement that the appeals had been upheld and as a result the player, who currently plays for Fluminense, has been suspended till Nov 7, 2009.

'CAS found that the objective presence of fenproporex in the player's urine samples constituted an anti-doping rule violation and that, on the balance of probability, the player did not discharge the burden of proving how the prohibited substance entered his body nor was he able to demonstrate that he bore no significant fault or negligence,' CAS said.

The organization added that their decision would not have any effect on the results of the player's team during the period.

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