Flamengo striker Gabriel “Gabigol” Barbosa has been suspended following a doping investigation in Brazil. The South American country’s football government has voted narrowly in favour of applying the sanction in the doping fraud case. Brazil’s Anti-Doping Sports Tribunal will ban Gabigol from playing professionally by a vote of five to four.
The case relates to a wonderful anti-doping control conducted on April 8, 2023. Football officials went to Flamengo’s educational facilities that day to check on the entire team. While the rest of the club’s players voluntarily submitted to the controls, Gabigol is said to be on a standstill. According to league officials, the striker tried to evade doping controls, but nevertheless relented a few hours later than his teammates.
ESPN reports that Gabigol’s lawyers say the player’s habit has nothing to do with drug testing itself. The attorneys went on to say that a blood test was done to help clarify their client’s name. However, the Brazilian striker will not be able to play professionally until April 2025.
Flamengo issued a statement on Monday proclaiming that it would help Gabigol appeal the decision. The Brazilian side also denied any fraud on the part of the club or the player during the anti-doping control. They even went so far as to claim that “there wasn’t even an “attempt at fraud” on the part of the attacker.
Along with the team, Gabigol also took to social media to react to the penalty. “Since the beginning of my football career I have followed the rules of the game and have never consumed banned substances,” the striker wrote on Instagram.
“I’ve already had dozens of tests, all of them negative, which reinforces my commitment to myself and the Brazilian fans.
“I am disappointed with the final results of the trial, but I will continue to cooperate with the sporting government and I am confident that my innocence will be proven and restored through the high court. “
Gabigol, now 27, was once a rising star in Brazil. After a successful spell with Santos, Inter Milan bought the striker for just over $30 million in 2016. However, this resolution was a failure and the youngster only spent one season with the Italian team. Gabigol scored just one goal in 10 appearances in the entire 2016/17 campaign.
Inter then loaned the striker to Benfica for the following season. Despite being one of the most productive groups in all of Europe to develop, Gabigol has struggled. Benfica sent him back to Brazil after just six months in Portugal. Gabigol scored 27 goals for Santos in 2018 before Flamenco bought him. The Brazilian club made the striker’s transfer permanent in 2020 for around $19 million.
The news of Gabigol’s doping comes just weeks after Juventus star Paul Pogba also won a lengthy suspension for a similar incident. The French foreigner approved a four-year ban earlier this month for testing positive in two separate doping tests in the fall of 2023.
Due to his age, Pogba’s career could come to an end as a result of this penalty. Gabigol, on the other hand, could return to the Brazilian top flight in 2025. However, the striker will be out of contract for as long as he will have to play again.
PHOTOS: IMAGO.