Gabigol is suspended from football until April 2025
Since March 25th, Gabigol has been away from activities as a professional football player. This is because, after a judgment by the Anti-Doping Sports Court (TJD-AD), the player ended up being convicted of attempted fraud in an anti-doping test. However, among nine members of the jury, four voted to acquit the athlete. Among these is vice-president Selma Fátima Melo Rocha, who pointed out “lies” and “an attempt to incriminate Gabigol at any cost”by those responsible for collection.
In the report developed by Selma Fátima, to justify the vote, the vice-president was emphatic in contesting the behavior of the inspectors. “I glimpse a malicious behavior by DCOs to incriminate the Athlete at any cost“, said in part of the justification. Furthermore, Selma also argued that Gabriel should only be sentenced in the case of very serious problems to be reported, which, according to her, did not happen.
Still justifying the acquittal vote, the vice-president challenged the procedure carried out by ABCD (Brazilian Doping Control Association). This is because, in her opinion, there were not even the necessary number of professionals to carry out the examination correctly on all athletes. Along with this, the controversial reports from the inspectors also reinforced Selma Fátima’s arguments for voting in favor of Gabigol:
“Sometimes they claim that they were prevented from escorting the Athlete, sometimes they deny this fact. Each DCO assigns the other the responsibility for escorting the Athlete to the room […] It is clear, therefore, that they are lying, and their testimony should be completely discarded.”explained Selma.
OTHER JURY MEMBERS ALSO DEFENDED GABIGOL
A Auditor Fernanda Farina Mansur was yet another one who pointed out contradictions in the inspectors’ testimonies, thus causing “difficulties in elucidation” and “a series of doubts”. Furthermore, Fernanda draws attention to the name of an official that appeared on the form, however, the official says that he did not participate in the collection.
Jean Batista Nicolau, another auditor who voted for acquittal, weighed in on the athlete’s conduct, which would not have been ideal during the procedure. However, Jean stated that there is no evidence of an attempt to defraud or take advantage during the procedure. Furthermore, the auditor also reports contradictions in the inspectors’ statements.
“The information is inconsistent regarding the escort of the athlete, the procedure for collecting urine and sealing the vials with the sample. An officer said that for “a long time” the athlete was left without proper supervision. Another said it was just a few minutes,” justified Jean in one of the passages.
*The excerpts presented were initially obtained by GE.
GABIGOL AND FLAMENGO AWAIT NEXT CHAPTERS
Gabigol’s defense, with the support of Flamengo, filed a request for a suspensive effect with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). The idea is to obtain release for the athlete to act, before the decisive trial, which does not yet have a scheduled date. Despite this, a response is expected by the beginning of May.
