Gabriel Barbosa, who has 18 caps for Brazil, received a two-year suspension from football after a court verdict on Monday. The 27-year-old forward, also known as Gabigol, was found to have committed “fraud or attempted fraud of any part of the control process” in doping. This indicates that the striker made it difficult to conduct anti-doping testing, even if the results were negative.
The decision on Monday exposed those who planned to avoid testing. According to Globo, on April 8, 2023, Gabigol was the only athlete who postponed taking an anti-doping test. When he ultimately took the examination, he was found to have ignored procedures and instructions, as well as disrespecting the team involved. Seven witnesses, including Gabigol, testified at Monday’s trial and the final result was 5:4 against the Flamengo star.
Gabigol’s employers issued the following statement on Monday: “Clube de Regatas do Flamengo, taking note of the result of the trial of its athlete Gabriel Barbosa, in the sense of applying a 2-year suspension sentence, until April 2025, by 5 votes for conviction and 4 for acquittal, goes public to say that it received the aforementioned decision with surprise and that it will assist the athlete in presenting an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), as it understands that there was no type of fraud, not even an attempt, to justify the punishment applied.”
Flamengo’s statement suggests that Gabigol intends to file an appeal of the decision. However, he might have received a bigger term, since Globo reports that a conviction for anti-doping fraud carries a maximum penalty of a four-year suspension.
