Athletic’s Álvarez gets doping ban for cancer hair-loss meds

Athletic Club player Yeray Álvarez was handed a 10-month ban by UEFA on Monday for failing a banned substance test due to taking a medicine to prevent hair loss caused by cancer treatment.

The Spanish defender failed a drug test after Athletic lost to Manchester United in the UEFA Europa League semifinals in May and accepted a voluntary provisional suspension in early June, UEFA said.

Following an investigation by two inspectors from UEFA’s ethics and disciplinary department, the governing body has suspended Álvarez for a period of 10 months. The ban will end on April 2 next year and applies to all competitions. UEFA confirmed he can train and use club facilities from Feb. 2.

Álvarez, a 30-year-old center-back, had to step away from football in 2017 for several months to treat testicular cancer. After his return to playing, he took medication to fight alopecia. He argued that the cause of his positive result on the doping test was because he “involuntarily took a medicine to prevent hair loss that contained a banned substance.”

UEFA confirmed that substance to be Canrenone.

Athletic will play in the Champions League this season after finishing fourth in the LaLiga.

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Álvarez confirmed his provisional suspension in July in a social media post, where he said a hair loss prevention medicine had contained a banned substance.

“After studying the case, we have established that I tested positive because I unintentionally took a hair loss prevention medicine containing a banned substance,” Álvarez said.

“The disciplinary procedure is currently under investigation and subject to confidentiality so I am provisionally suspended and [I] am not authorised to make any further public statements.

“I very much regret this situation but, with the support of the club, I am working on my defence in the belief that I will be able to return to the field of play as soon as possible.”