FIFA bans player for 18 months for same substance as Valieva
By GRAHAM DUNBAR
AP Sports Writer
GENEVA (AP) — FIFA has banned Ivory Coast goalkeeper Sylvain Gbohouo for 18 months in a doping case that involved the same substance that Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva tested positive for ahead of the Beijing Olympics. Gbohouo tested positive for trimetazidine in connection with Ivory Coast’s World Cup qualifying game against Cameroon last November. He had been prescribed a medication to treat an eye condition and “improve his retinal blood flow.” Trimetazidine is also a heart medication which lawyers for Valieva said her grandfather took and that she accidentally ingested. FIFA judges said Gbohouo was not significantly to blame and should not serve a full four-year ban.