He was not one of the most decisive Argentinians in winning the world title in 2022. In Qatar, Alejandro “Papu” Gomez only played two matches against Saudi Arabia (1-2) and Australia in the round of 16 (2-1). But today, Argentina only talks about him. The Monza striker in Italy has just been handed a two-year ban following a positive doping test. This unexpected check took place after training with his former club Sevilla FC, in November 2022, just a few days before the start of the Argentinian training camp in Qatar.
The former Atalanta Bergamo playmaker tested positive for an unknown banned substance. “It all happened during training in Seville when doctors came by surprise to carry out a doping control. According to the footballer’s version, a few days earlier he took cough medicine from one of his children without first consulting the club’s doctors. » writes the Brazilian media Revelo at the origin of this revelation.
He knew the result of the test and said nothing
The problem, according to the Carioca media, is that it seems that Papu Gomez was quickly made aware of this positive test which should have closed the door to him from the selection and the World Cup. “The footballer and Sevilla (his former club) had known about this matter for months, when he read the notification, and even this week when he received the sanction. This aspect was an obstacle in the search for Papu’s team during the summer, as no club wanted to take risks in the face of this possible sanction. This situation led the parties to finally agree on the termination of the contract,” Revelo writes.
