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UEFA bans Ukrainian football national goalkeeper for 2 years

2012-02-01 11:24 AIPS


Ukranian goalkeeper Oleksandr Rybka has been banned for two 
years for failing a doping test.(Photo courtesy www.shakhtar.com)

KIEV, January 31, 2012 – The EURO 2012 merely four months away, the Ukrainian national football team is set to face a goalkeeper crisis.

As it was announced, the 24-year-old international Oleksandr Rybka, who also defends the colors of the acting Ukrainian league champion Shakhtar Donetsk, has failed the doping test administered after a national league match late November last year.

UEFA released a statement on the case, announcing the decision to enforce a two year ban. According to the sources within the organization – quoted in a number of media outlets – the European football governing body has also asked FIFA to enforce the ban globally.

In such case, Rybka is set to miss the upcoming EURO that will take place on the home soil and will likely miss the qualifiers for the 2014 FIFA World Cup set to take place in Brazil.

Rybka insisted that the prohibited substance that triggered the decision in fact was a weight-loss diuretic administered after the game, and thus the substance couldn’t have affected his performance on the field.

The club has also released a statement announcing the intentions to appeal the “extremely harsh decision”, however in case the attempts to lift the ban will prove to be unfruitful, Shakhtar hopes to at least shorten the punishment. Oleksandr Rybka is set to remain part of the club whatever the outcome of the appeal and is expected continue the usual training sessions with his teammates. (By Natalia Donets, Young Reporter, Moldova)

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