The body governing football in the world, FIFA has suspended Ivory Coast’s first choice goalkeeper, Sylian Gbohouo after testing positive for banned substances.
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The 33-year-old was expected to be in goal for the Elephants in their opening group game against Equatorial Guinea on Wednesday, January 12th, 2022.
Ivory Coast’s head coach, Patrice Beaumelle, confirmed the news of the suspension in a press conference ahead of the game against Equatorial Guinea. He said the team were hoping for a favourable response from FIFA.
We had hope of getting a favourable response from FIFA but yesterday learned that they were upholding their decison. The player has been training alone and had lost weight and is not sleeping.
Gbohouoo tested positive for trimetazdine, a heart medication that has been categorised by the World Anti-Doping Agency as a stimulant.
Ivory Coast have a choice of Badra Ali Sangare, Abdoul Karim and Ira Eliezer Tape as their substitute goalkeepers. The 2015 Champions are group alongside defending Champions Algeria, Sierra Leone and Equatorial Guinea
