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The deployment of the two Salzburg soccer professionals, Sekou Koita and Mohamed Camara in the Mali national team in November, has consequences. The two Red Bull kickers tested positive for doping after their return on November 22, as it became known (only) yesterday. Austrian champions Red Bull Salzburg need not fear any consequences except that Koita and Camara will likely have to watch due to a doping ban in the spring.
The club is sure that the ghost of doping is an import from the international match of the two Africans. Mali’s national team had traveled from Bamako, 350 meters above sea level, to Windhoek in Namibia, which is around 1,700 meters high, for the Africa Cup qualifying match. The game took place on November 17. Mali won 2-1, Koita scored the goal for a 1-0 lead. He and Camara are said to have been given altitude sickness medication by the team doctor before the game, which contained a prohibited doping substance.
Since their doping test, the two Red Bull pros have played in four league games, including a 3-1 win over LASK. Koita also played three Champions League games, Camara at least two of them. In last Sunday’s Bundesliga match (2: 3 against WAC), neither of them played their last match so far in the Cup round of 16 against Rapid (6: 2) on December 16. Salzburg need not fear criminal checks, as according to UEFA regulations, penalties against a team only apply if more than two players on a team show positive doping tests.
Regarding the duration of the sanction for Koita and Camara, the European federation UEFA is aware in coordination with the world anti-doping agency WADA. The four-year sentence for the first offense can be cut in half to two years without intention. If all mitigating reasons are taken into account (no gross negligence, no gross negligence, no “classic” doping), the two could get away with a six-month ban from the start of the sample submission (22 April November).
Is it allowed to exercise?
In any case, Salzburg wants to close the wall to its two “problem policemen”. “Mohamed Camara and Sekou Koita will participate in training in the spring and will receive support from FC Red Bull Salzburg to clarify this cause,” said a broadcast from the club. However, according to UEFA Article 18.02, the two are not allowed to “train with a team or use the infrastructure of a club” two months before the suspension expires at the earliest. (chz)
