Hair Drug Ban Lifted
Oct 2008
The drug which
was responsible for Brazilian soccer star
Romario's doping ban is being removed from the
World Anti-Doping Agency's (WADA) banned list.
The substance - sold as finasteride - was
the same drug which saw former Socceroo Stan
Lazaridis been banned from playing soccer for 12
months after testing positive in November 2006.
Lazaridis' positive test resulted from treatment
he was receiving for alopecia - a condition he
disclosed and was accepted by football
authorities on his arrival back in Australia
from playing in England for West Ham.
Brazilian star Romario tested positive in 2007.
Finasteride is not only an ingredient in a
popular hair-restoration pill, but was
also believed to be capable of masking steroid
usage. It was prohibited in 2005.
The former FIFA World Player of the Year, who
had used a prescription hair loss product that
contained finasteride, was banned for four
months.
The 42-year-old's last appearance for Vasco
da Gama was against Internacional in November
2007 and he announced his retirement from the
sport in March.
Romario also played a handful of games for
A-League club Adelaide United two seasons ago.
WADA said today finasteride would be removed
from its banned list on January 1 after further
study showed athletes gained no tangible
advantage from the drug.
Among those affected by the ban on
finasteride were American skeleton racer Zach
Lund who was banned for a year.
Others who have tested positive for the drug in
recent years include NHL goalie Jose Theodore,
French runners Nordine Gezzar and Latifa
Essarokh, Italian golfer Alessandro Pissilli,
Monaco Olympic bobsledder Sebastien Gattuso, New
Zealand tennis player Mark Neilsen and Argentine
tennis player Mariano Hood.
German wheelchair basketball player Ahmet Coskun
was banned from the Paralympics last month after
testing positive, and Israeli sailor Udi Gal
tested positive this summer, but was allowed to
enter the Beijing Games nonetheless.
WADA made the decision to remove finasteride and
other alpha-reductase inhibitors late last
month, calling the review "an important
responsibility ... in the harmonisation of the
global fight against doping in sport''.
"These substances have been rendered ineffective
as masking agents of steroids,'' WADA said in a
statement announcing the change.
Hair drug ban lifted |
