A ruling by the Mexican Football Federation to clear five of its players after they tested positive for Clenbuterol in June is to be contested by the World Anti Doping Agency WADA.
The quintet - goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa, midfielders Antonio Naelson and Christian Bermudez plus the defenders Edgar Duenas and Francisco Rodriguez were subjected to anti-doping controls at a Mexico training camp prior to the Gold Cup.
Their defence was based around assertions that the substance was from contaminated food. In early July the Mexican federation cleared them, saying that it had concluded that the positive tests were "due to contaminated food,” and that the players had taken all necessary measures to avoid taking banned substances.
Parallels were drawn at the time between the case and that of Alberto Contador, who tested positive for Clenbuterol during last year’s Tour de France. He too said that the source of the positive result was from eating tainted meat.
Some observers had speculated that if WADA decided not to contest the soccer players' clearing that it could weaken the case against the Spaniard. However the agency has now indicated that it has indeed appealed the clearing of the players to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
The Agency is due to present evidence at Contador’s hearing in November. The UCI will do likewise, although the two bodies have opted not to combine their appeals.
Contador was cleared by the Spanish federation RFEC in February. The UCI and WADA announced that they planned to fight that decision. The appeal was first due to be held in early June, thus providing enough time for a ruling prior to the Tour de France.
It was subsequently delayed until early August, and then once again until November.
It is not known if the soccer players’ appeal will be held before or after that of Contador.
The Saxo Bank SunGard rider won a number of races this season, including the Giro d’Italia. He competed in the Tour de France but crashed early on and had to be satisfied with fifth overall in the race.