RIDIA, SAUDI Arabia –
Saudi Arabia winger Fahad al-Mowallad was withdrawn from Sunday’s World Cup squad less than 48 hours after being selected because of an ongoing doping case.
Saudis coach Herve Renard has replaced al-Mowallad from his 26-man squad for the tournament in Qatar “as a precautionary measure,” the team said on its Twitter account.
Saudi Arabia’s anti-doping commission in May said it had suspended the player for 18 months because of a positive test result for the doping substance furosemide in February. It is a diuretic that has been used. long in sports doping as a cover-up to conceal the presence of other drugs.
Saudi media reports say the ban on 28-year-old al-Mowallad has been lifted, giving him the option to play in Qatar, which should be the second World Cup. his.
The World Anti-Doping Agency confirmed on Sunday that it had intervened in the case before the Saudi Arabian team was selected.
“WADA has appealed the case to the CAS (Court of Arbitration for Sport) seeking a longer period of disqualification,” the Montreal-based agency said in a statement.
Al-Mowallad’s elimination from the World Cup comes just nine days before the team opens in Group C against Argentina, one of the favorites ahead of the tournament. Then, Saudi Arabia played Poland on November 26 and Mexico on November 30.
The team said Sunday that Renard had called Nawaf Al-Abed, a club teammate of al-Mowallad at Al-Shabab, in his place.
Al-Mowallad joins Al-Shabab this season after more than a decade at Al-Ittihad, including a brief loan spell at Levante in Spain ahead of the 2018 World Cup.
He was part of an agreement between the General Sports Administration (GSA) in Saudi Arabia and La Liga to bring national team players to Spanish clubs and help prepare for the tournament. tournament in Russia.
Al-Mowallad played all three games at the last World Cup, where Saudi Arabia finished third in their group, losing to Russia and Uruguay before beating Egypt.
