Flamengo striker Gabigol banned from football for two years for attempted anti-doping fraud

The 27-year-old forward, who has 18 caps for Brazil, was handed a two-year ban from football after a court's ruling on Monday, per Globo. Barbosa, more commonly known as Gabigol, was found to have committed "fraud or attempted fraud of any part of the control process" of doping. This means that the striker was found to have made it difficult to carry out anti-doping tests, even if those were found to be negative.

Those deliberate efforts to evade testing were revealed in Monday's ruling. Globo notes that Gabigol was the only player to delay taking an anti-doping test on April 8, 2023. When he eventually took said examination, he was found to ignore procedures and instructions, treating the team involved with disrespect. Seven witnesses gave testimony in Monday's trial, as well as Gabigol, with the eventual vote going 5:4 against the Flamengo star.

A statement released on Monday by Gabigol's employers read as follows: "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."

As Flamengo's statement alludes to, Gabigol plans to appeal the decision. However, he could have been handed a harsher sentence, as Globo notes a conviction for anti-doping fraud carries a maximum punishment of a four-year ban.

If Gabigol's appeal is denied he will serve his time away from the game, with the two-year sentence ending on April 8, 2025. Globo writes that the reason for this being less than two years after the date of ruling (March 25, 2024) is that the penalty technically came into effect at the time of the anti-doping tests in question, back on April 8, 2023.