Countdown begins for Paolo Guerrero

The captain of the Peruvian national team, who is hoping for the nullification of his reduced six-month doping suspension, will testify "at the end of April" before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (TAS), according to sources from the legal institution.

FIFA announced in late December that the one-year suspension imposed on the Flamengo forward had been reduced to six months, so it would end on May 3, allowing him to participate in the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

Paolo Guerrero: What is he doing while waiting for his hearing before the TAS? [VIDEO]

However, the 34-year-old Paolo Guerrero appealed this decision at the end of January and requested that his suspension "be annulled and that no sanction be imposed on him". The hearing before the TAS, based in Lausanne, has not been scheduled yet, but it is likely to take place at the end of April.

Complications may arise

However, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) requested to the TAS that the captain of the Peruvian national team's sanction be increased to two years, as reported by the portal Globo Esporte.

Paolo Guerrero tested "positive" for the cocaine metabolite benzoylecgonine, a prohibited substance as a stimulant and included in the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) list of prohibited substances after a test performed after a World Cup qualifier against Argentina on October 5th in Buenos Aires.

The Peruvian national team's striker missed the two playoff matches against New Zealand for this reason, in which the team qualified for the World Cup, something they had not achieved since the 1982 edition in Spain.

Paolo Guerrero has been training with Flamengo since March 20, as he was allowed to do so in the last fourth part of his sentence according to the anti-doping regulations. Prior to that, he trained on his own in Buenos Aires.

So far, Guerrero will be able to play again on May 4th and therefore will be able to be called up by the Peruvian national team for the World Cup in Russia (June 14th - July 15th), where they will compete in Group C against Denmark (June 16th), France (June 21st), and Australia (June 26th).

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