MEXICO: FOOTBALL / SOCCER - Mexican soccer player Salvador Carmona gets life ban for doping

Record ID: 303861

  • Title: MEXICO: FOOTBALL / SOCCER - Mexican soccer player Salvador Carmona gets life ban for doping
  • Date: 20th May 2007
  • Summary: NEWS CONFERENCE WITH SOCCER FERERATION SECRETARY DECIO DE MARIA SERRANO (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) SOCCER FERERATION SECRETARY DECIO DE MARIA SERRANO SAYING: "Yesterday at the Cruz Azul - Pachuca match the player (Carmona) was on the field because a federal judge notified us at 6:35pm and the game had already started. The player was already on the field. This is a very serious situation." PHOTOGRAPHER TAKING PICTURE (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) SOCCER FERERATION SECRETARY DECIO DE MARIA SERRANO SAYING: "It happened because of recividism in doping when the player was suspended and his mid-season analysis turned out positive." JOURNALISTS
  • Embargoed: 4th June 2007 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Mexico
  • Country: Mexico
  • Topics: Sports
  • Reuters ID: LVA9RR1XJOJF0S7I5HKAFQVXKW7
  • Story Text: Mexico defender Salvador Carmona, who was kicked out of the 2005 Confederations Cup over a doping case, has been banned for life, the Mexican Football Federation (FMF) said on Friday (May 18).
    The FMF said that the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne, Switzerland, had imposed the ban because Carmona had failed a doping test for a second time.
    Carmona, 31, played for Cruz Azul on Thursday when they lost 3-1 to Pachuca in a Mexican championship match.
    FMF general secretary Decio de Maria said on Friday that Carmona was already on the field when the latest news made it to Mexican soccer officials.
    "Yesterday at the Cruz Azul - Pachuca match the player (Carmona) was on the field because a federal judge notified us at 6:35pm and the game had already started. The player was already on the field. This is a very serious situation," he said.
    The secretary added that halfway through the ban, Carmona failed another doping test.
    "It happened because of recividism in doping when the player was suspended and his mid-term analysis turned out positive," he said.
    He was sent home during the 2005 Confederations Cup in Germany along with team mate Aaron Galindo following Mexico's shock 1-0 win over Brazil.
    After initially saying they were kicked out for indiscipline, the FMF said the pair had tested positive for a derivative of nandrolone, a banned anabolic steroid, before the squad had left Mexico for the tournament in Germany.
    The players were then suspended for one year.
    The court's decision, made on Wednesday, was the final stage in the case and could not be appealed, De Maria said.
    De Maria said that a further twist was that the CAS had made its decision on Wednesday, 24 hours before Carmona played for Cruz Azul.
    He said the FMF's disciplinary commission would rule on the matter before Cruz Azul meet Pachuca on Sunday in the second leg of their semi-final tie.
    Carmona made his Mexico debut in a friendly against Chile in 1996 and went on to win 84 caps. He also played for Toluca, Atlante and Guadalajara before joining Cruz Azul in 2004.
    In addition to the ban on the players, soccer's governing body FIFA fined the FMF 750,000 Swiss francs ($580,000 at the time) over its conduct.
    Nicolas Zarur, chairman of the Mexican FA's medical committee, was banned for two years and there was a reprimand and a 20,000 Swiss francs ($15,500) fine for the FA's president Jose Alberto de la Torre.
    Team doctor Jose Luis Serrano was also fined 5,000 Swiss francs ($3,800) and reprimanded by the FIFA disciplinary committee.
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