Paolo Guerrero will not be in Russia 2018
The captain of the Peruvian soccer team, Paolo Guerrero, was left out of the Russia 2018 World Cup, because the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) extended the disqualification to six to fourteen months. The ruling was confirmed by the CAS on its website. The decision is unappealable and final because it is the last instance in sports matters.
According to the ruling, the CAS has accepted that Guerrero did not ingest any substance to improve its sports performance. However, it considers that the player incurred some fault or negligence, although this has been minimal, and that he may have taken some measure to avoid contamination. Therefore, it considers that the appropriate sanction for the player is 14 months. The news represents a blow to the Peruvian soccer team given that Guerrero is considered the best striker of the team led by Ricardo Gareca and his main goal for the matches that will be played in the World Cup.
His six goals scored in the South American qualifiers were key to Peru's qualification to the World Cup, especially the free kick to the Colombian team, which allowed the Peruvian team to qualify for the playoff against New Zealand. The calvary for Guerrero began on November 2, 2017, when the CAS notified the Peruvian Football Federation of the "adverse analytical result" obtained after the analysis of the urine sample that Guerrero delivered after the game between Peru and Argentina for the South American qualifiers. The substance found was benzoilecognine, a metabolite of cocaine.
After this result, Guerrero was suspended for thirty days, which left him out of the games by the playoff against New Zealand. The Flamengo player always defended his innocence and refused to use drugs or any product to improve his sports performance, so he filed an appeal with FIFA, which reduced his sanction to six months. The six-month sanction allowed Guerrero to play the World Cup, but the player decided to appeal to the CAS to lift all sanctions, considering that he had not committed any infraction. The news came at the same time that Guerrero was making a protocol photo session ahead of the World Cup. Even, the Peruvian Football Federation had published videos and images of the soccer player posing with the shirt of the selection. Now, Coach Ricardo Gareca must announce the 35 preselected for the World Cup.
