Deco doping ban scrapped

Frankfurt am Main, GERMANY: Portuguese midfielder Deco celebrates scoring the opening goal during the World Cup 2006 group D football game Portugual vs.Iran 17 June 2006 at Frankfurt stadium. AFP PHOTO / NICOLAS ASFOURI (Photo credit should read NICOLAS ASFOURI/AFP/Getty Images)

Frankfurt am Main, GERMANY: Portuguese midfielder Deco celebrates scoring the opening goal during the World Cup 2006 group D football game Portugual vs.Iran 17 June 2006 at Frankfurt stadium. AFP PHOTO / NICOLAS ASFOURI (Photo credit should read NICOLAS ASFOURI/AFP/Getty Images)

Published May 27, 2014

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Lausanne - Brazilian-born Portugal player Deco has been cleared of doping because of faulty testing by a Rio de Janeiro laboratory which has since been suspended from World Cup duty.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport says a settlement between Deco, the Brazilian football federation and FIFA annulled his one-year ban imposed last September.

The lab is further discredited after being suspended by the World Anti-Doping Agency last August.

It was dropped from World Cup testing, forcing FIFA to fly samples to Lausanne.

The case against Deco collapsed when his samples were re-tested in Lausanne.

The CAS ruling says: “It could not be established that (Deco) has committed an anti-doping rule violation.”

The 36-year-old retired player allegedly tested positive for hydrochlorothiazide and tamoxifen in early 2013.

Sapa-AP

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