Arsenal’s goal Andre Onana has seen his ban on playing soccer reduced from 12 months to nine months by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Onana has been out of action since February, when he was banned for ingesting a banned substance. He claimed that he did it unknowingly as it was on his wife’s medicine, which he took by mistake. But UEFA suspended him for a year, putting the Ajax goalkeeper’s career on hold.
Since then, he has been waiting to hear the outcome of his appeal, which has now become clear. His ban has been lowered by three months, which means he will be allowed to play again from November 4. In addition, you can resume training from two months before that date.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport said: “The CAS panel… found that no ‘significant fault’ could be attributed to Andre Onana, who had mistakenly ingested drugs intended for someone else.
“On that basis, the panel found that a nine-month ban was commensurate with the negligence committed and reduced the suspension by three months, but was unable to accept the goalkeeper’s request to withdraw the suspension entirely.”
Therefore, Onana will miss the start of the season with Ajax, but may represent Cameroon at the African Cup of Nations in January.
The news will be of interest to Arsenal, who have reportedly targeted Onana as a goalkeeper target. In fact, according to The Times, they have already made an offer.
There is a possibility that Onana has already played his last game with Ajax, as his contract expires in 2022. Therefore, Ajax may look to sell him this summer and Arsenal hope to benefit.
Van der Sar reacts to the news
But the managing director of the Dutch club, Edwin van der Sar, suggested that Onana still had a future when he reacted to the news via his website.
He said: “With this CAS ruling, we have three more months [with Onana available] compared to the original suspension.
“So the move to CAS was not in vain. We defend a clean sport. But I repeat that we are convinced that Andre took this drug accidentally and certainly not to perform better.
“Last week when we told Andre and the attorneys our story at CAS, I left with a good feeling. I have mixed feelings about today’s statement, because our goal was for it to return to normal from this summer.
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