Gabigol suspended: the two decisive versions in an attempt to return to Flamengo

Gabigolwith support from Flamengo, will seek a suspensive effect on the punishment of two years away for attempted fraud in an anti-doping test at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). There is still no date for the evaluation of the case, but the expectation is for a return later this month, in mid-April. And two versions will be decisive for whether or not the hook is reversed.

As already revealed by ESPNthe defense will be based on possible contradictions in the testimonies of agents in the trial of the TJD-AD (Tribunal de Justiça Desportiva Anti-Doping), with the support, including, of internal images of the Flamengo CT on the day of the exam, April 8, 2023.

ABCD (Brazilian Doping Control Authority), on the other hand, as responsible for the test, states that Gabigol failed to comply with crucial procedures for the test to be valid, which meant that agents were unable to guarantee the integrity of the sample, or that is, that the urine was in fact his.

This is the main reason why he was punished for attempting to cheat an anti-doping test, regardless of the final negative result.

ABCD’s version is that, when the agents arrived for the tests, all the athletes who would also be tested made themselves available for collection, as determined by the procedure. Gabigol was the only one who said he would do his training first, which still does not constitute an irregularity.

In this matter, there is a possible contradiction that Gabigol’s defense intends to explore. Because, in testimony, one of the agents would have stated that the professionals arrived before the athlete, which would be contradicted by the internal circuit of Ninho do Urubu – in Flamengo’s version, the attacker arrives at 8 am, and the officers arrive at around 9 am.

According to international technical procedures, it is not a problem for Gabigol to train before the test. The only issue is that, due to the type of analysis that would be performed, it would be necessary to wait a two-hour interval for blood collection. And it is during this period that the attacker’s failures occur.

A source interviewed by the report states that there were several procedures not observed by Gabigol, which meant that the agents were unable to confirm, at the end of the process, that the urine was in the required conditions. This invalidates the test – therefore, the negative test result had little bearing on the trial – and leads to the accusation of attempted fraud – and subsequent suspension.

In relation to this point, the defense also wants to demonstrate a possible contradiction in the version presented by the agents interviewed. This is because, according to sources present at the trial, an ABCD officer reported that he saw urine coming out of Gabigol’s urethra at the time of collection.

With this point, the athlete’s representatives understand that there is CAS jurisprudence that would favor the argument. In past cases, the court punished cases of mixing urine with water for fraud, for example, not for bad behavior, as would be the case with Gabigol.

Internally, Flamengo also recognizes that Gabigol’s style of not treating collection as a priority irritated professionals. However, this does not prevent the club from questioning the terms of the complaint, especially with the times and contradictions in the statements. ABCD counters this view, ensuring the preparation of its agents to deal with this type of behavior, which is not exclusive to the attacker.

Gabigol’s defense is in a hurry to take the request for a suspensive effect to CAS – it should happen this week – as it understands that this is the only move capable of making the attacker return to playing even under his current contract with Flamengo, which is ending. in December. This is because the judgment of the appeal itself should not take place before the end of the 2024 season.

At CAS, it is difficult to predict the rigor of the evaluation of Gabigol’s case based on past decisions, as it is a panel with several judges. It therefore depends on who will vote on this issue.

The fact is that, while suspended, Gabigol is prevented from training at Flamengo or even visiting the club’s facilities. Your hook counts from the exam date, i.e. April 2023, going up to the same month of 2025.