April 4 – Zenit St Petersburg have been cautioned by UEFA after one of their players failed to attend a routine doping test following Celtic’s 1-0 Europa League win over the Russian side in February.
Dmitry Poloz, 26, was selected for the test at Celtic Park at full-time but failed to turn up straightaway and instead went straight to the dressing rooms at the final whistle.
UEFA regulations require players selected for drugs tests to go straight to a specially assigned doping control room after the game.
Poloz made the mistake simply “through habit”, according to his club.
A Zenit spokesman said: “UEFA has issued a warning to the club which we understand to be standard procedure when a doping control officer raises such issues after a game.
“In this case, after he entered the dressing room, the club’s medical staff acted promptly so that he did not spend any time there and reported to the doping control staff.”
Poloz played no part in the game itself or the return leg, where his side mounted an impressive comeback to win 3-0. Zenit were eventually eliminated from the Europa League by RB Leipzig.
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