NEWS
OTHER SPORTS
DIARY
PEOPLE
MATCH REPORTS
SLIDE SHOW
ARCHIVES

'Mexican players four to six times over dope limit'

The South American Football Confederation (CSF) has discarded Mexican arguments that two of their players failed a doping test because they had eaten contaminated food.

Paulo Cesar Chavez and Raul Lara were banned for the rest of the tournament on Friday after testing positive for Nandrolone and Testosterone respectively following the 2-1 defeat by Brazil on July 3.

Mexico team doctor Jose Luis Serrano argued that his squad was clean, that the substances could only be administered with a high degree of specialisation and it was likely they had been found after being used in the production of meat eaten by the players.

But his arguments were refuted yesterday by Marco Teixiera, head of the CSF's doping commission, who said that between four and six times the normal limits of the banned substances had been found in the tests.

''Today, you don't need specialised assistance. All you need is someone who reads a little bit of English and has access to information.

''The hormones normally used for food production were not found ... And in any case it is not possible to think that these levels, so far above the normal ones, were due to eating meat from animals fattened with anabolics.''

The CSF will meet on Saturday to consider extending the ban on the two players.

Mexico have reached the semi-finals of the tournament and face Brazil today.

UNI