World Anti-Doping Code Modified

The World Anti-Doping Code has been modified, reducing the sanctions for athletes who test positive for substances that do not enhance performance to one month. The international football players' union, FIFPro, applauded the amendment and will request FIFA to implement it immediately.

"The amendment corrects an injustice that has damaged the lives of a number of professional football players who were punished with up to four-year bans under the current regulations," FIFPro stated in a press release, following the World Anti-Doping Conference held in Katowice, Poland, where amendments to the code in these cases were approved.

FIFPro recalled that this change is a result of their special campaign following the case of Peruvian player Paolo Guerrero, who was on the verge of missing the 2018 World Cup when FIFA suspended him for testing positive for cocaine.

Guerrero, captain of the Peruvian national team, was initially banned for one year by the FIFA Disciplinary Committee in December 2017, which would have prevented him from participating in the World Cup in Russia. However, the punishment was later reduced to six months after an appeal was made to FIFA's own appeals body.

As a reminder, Paolo Guerrero tested positive for benzoylecgonine, a metabolite of cocaine, in the anti-doping test conducted on October 5, 2017, in Buenos Aires, after the World Cup qualifying match between Argentina and Peru. This substance is included in the list of prohibited substances by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) as a stimulant.

FIFPro reiterated that the substance detected in Guerrero's body does not enhance athletic performance.