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FIFA bans Paolo Guerrero for cocaine use

Chuck Penfold Reuters, dpa
December 8, 2017

FIFA has slapped a one-year ban on former Bundesliga player Paolo Guerrero after he tested positive for cocaine. The ban means that the Peru captain will miss next summer's World Cup in Russia.

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WM Qualifikation - Peru v Venezuela - Paolo Guerrero
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/F. Llano

A statement released by football's world governing body said that its Disciplinary Committee had found that Paolo Guerrero had violated article six of the organisation's Anti-Doping Regulations.

Cocaine is categorized as a stimulant and is on the World Anti-Doping Agency's (WADA) list of performance-enhancing substances.

The 33-year-old striker, who now plays his club football with Brazilian outfit Flamengo, had already been provisionally suspended after failing a doping test following Peru's World Cup qualifier against Argentina in Buenos Aires in October.

Peru qualified for the World Cup finals for the first time since 1982 by beating New Zealand in a two-legged playoff last month, but Guerrero, the national team's captain, missed both of those matches due to his provisional suspension.

His ban applies to all international, domestic and official friendly fixtures.

Guerrero spent 10 years in Germany before moving to the Brazilian league in 2012. After starting out with Bayern Munich's reserves in 2002, he cracked their Bundesliga side two years later. He also went on to play six seasons in Hamburg.