LONDON (AP) — England soccer player Chioma Ubogagu is serving a nine-month suspension for failing a doping test after medication for a skin condition contained a banned substance.
Ubogagu, who scored on his England debut in 2018, joined Women’s Super League side Tottenham last year. She was initially provisionally suspended in January, but details of the case and the verdict were not announced until Thursday.
Canrenone, a masking agent, was detected during an out-of-competition test in October. It was in anti-acne tablets that Ubogagu was prescribed by her dermatologist in Texas where she played for the Houston Dash in 2018.
In 2012, then-USA goalkeeper Hope Solo received only a public warning from the United States Anti-Doping Agency after Canrenone was detected in her urine test.
An English Football Association regulatory committee found that Ubogagu had not intentionally breached doping rules to improve her performance and was taking the drug for a recognized illness.
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“I want to make it clear that the drug didn’t have any performance enhancing effects for me, but I still made the mistake of not being as diligent as possible and as a result I can’t play to the game that I love so much that I haven’t served my suspension,” Ubogagu said in a statement. “Although my dermatologist knows my profession, it is also my responsibility to learn more about the medications prescribed to me.”
Ubogagu cannot play again until October.
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