Juventus and Holland midfielder Edgar Davids was last night definitively ruled out of Saturday's World Cup qualifier against Ireland at Lansdowne Road when he received a five months ban from the Italian Football Federation's Disciplinary Commission in Milan.
The 28-year-old Davids had been suspended on a precautionary basis since May 17th, after it emerged that he had tested positive for the growth hormone nandrolene following a March 4th Serie A game versus Udinese. At yesterday's hearing, he was given a five months backdated suspension which means that he will be free to resume playing by mid-October, in time for Juve's eighth league game of the season away to Bologna. Yesterday's hearing also saw the Dutchman fined IR£40,000.
Even if Davids were to have his sentence reduced at a subsequent appeals hearing, he will still be ruled out of Saturday's vital qualifier since the Federation's Appeals Court is not due to sit until September 6th. Last night's decision emerged after a five hour sitting of the Disciplinary Commission which opted to over-rule the recommendations of the Federation's anti-doping prosecutor, Giacomo Aiello, who had urged that Davids be suspended until August 31st, thus making him available for Saturday's qualifier.
When news of David's positive dope test emerged last May, the Dutch midfielder angrily denied the allegations, saying: "I have never even remotely thought of using any type of doping substance. I have very strong principles in relation to the things I consume - basically, no muck. I have only one body which is the house of my soul. Given that these personal rules are very important to me, it is not always easy for the Juventus medical staff to work with me - for example, I refuse to take even banal medicine such as an anti-flu vaccine."
Juventus also stood by their player, at first arguing that Davids might have been "contaminated" by a homeopathic product he took to fight off a fever and then appealing to FIFA re alleged irregularities in the Italian Federation's dope testing procedures.
In the end, FIFA stood by the Italian Federation's revamped dope testing lab in Rome, leaving the Federation a free hand in its disciplinary proceedings yesterday.
Italian soccer was rocked last season by a spate of nandrolene cases with Davids being only one of nine Serie A and B players (Portugal and Lazio central defender Fernando Couto is another) who tested positive for the drug. Many Serie A club doctors argued that the tests were unreliable, suggesting that the players may have unwittingly taken nandrolene contained in widely used "integrators".
Furthermore, the club doctors also suggested that the minimum permissible level of nandrolene is too low.
