No Significant Fault: Andre Onana Returns After Falling Foul Of UEFA's Anti-Doping Regulations
Andre Onana, the first team goalkeeper for AFC Ajax (“Ajax”) and the Cameroon national team, played his first competitive match for over nine months on 13 November 2021, when he started for Cameroon in a 4:0 victory over Malawi in a FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 African Qualifier.[1]
Prior to this match, Onana had been subject to a 9-month suspension from all football-related activity for violating UEFA’s Anti-Doping Regulations 2018 (“UADR”). Due to the nature of the suspension, Onana was only permitted to return to first-team training in September 2021 and in fact only resumed first-team training of any kind on 28 October 2021, when he joined up with the Ajax senior side, following a short spell training with the Ajax U21s.
Specifically, this article examines
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- Tags: AJAX | Anti-Doping | Athlete Rights | Athlete Welfare | CAS | Dispute Resolution | Regulation | Specified Substance | UEFA Doping Control | WADA
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Written by
Luke Carney
Luke Carney is the head trainee solicitor at Squire Patton Boggs (UK) LLP’s Birmingham office. He joined the firm in 2020 and is a 4th seat trainee currently working in the Financial Services department. He is also part of the firm’s international Sports and Entertainment Industry Group and one of a number of contributors to the firm’s popular Sports Shorts blog. Luke previously worked as a paralegal in Restructuring and Insolvency in Squire Patton Boggs’ Sydney office and in the firm’s Environmental, Safety & Health department in Manchester.
Thomas Horton
Thomas Horton is an associate (barrister) at Squire Patton Boggs (UK) LLP’s London office, practising in the firm’s sports litigation department. Thomas specialises in contentions and regulatory sports matters, regularly representing and advising football clubs, football players and football intermediaries. Thomas regularly appears before sports governing bodies’ disciplinary commissions. Thomas was ranked in the Legal 500, 2022 – London Bar – Sport as a ‘Rising Star’, and in November 2021 was appointed to Sport Resolutions’ Pro Bono Legal Advice Panel. Thomas regularly writes on sports law issues, particularly concerning football, and has provided analysis for various news providers, including the BBC, Sky Sports News and The Athletic.
