LISBON, July 26 (Xinhua) -- Sporting Lisbon goalkeeper Ricardo Batista has been banned for two years for a doping offence, the Portuguese football federation FPF said on Tuesday.

Batista tested positive for cortisone after a league match between Olhanense, the club he was loaned out to last season, and Academica Coimbra in January.

The ban is back-dated to April 8, when Batista's provisional suspension began.

Batista joined Sporting Lisbon from Fulham in 2008, but he has failed to earn a place in the club's first team since his arrival.

Olhanense came 11th in the past season. Batista was rated one of the nation's biggest goalkeeper talents and won 15 caps in the under-21 national team.

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