May 14 – Peru’s football federation have confirmed captain Paolo Guerrero has been selected in the team’s World Cup squad despite an appeal by anti-doping authorities to have his ban for a positive test increased.
Guerrero, Peru’s all-time top scorer currently with Brazilian club Flamengo, was suspended for a year by FIFA on December 8 after testing positive for cocaine metabolite benzoylecgonine following Peru’s 0-0 draw away to Argentina the previous October.
FIFA later reduced the ban to six months, technically allowing him to play at the World Cup in Russia, but the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has also received an appeal by WADA which wants to get it back to at least a year, maybe two.
Peru say Guerrero is in their preliminary World Cup roster and that officials will travel to Brazil shortly “with the aim of taking protocol photos” of “our selected Paolo Guerrero” and kitting him out for Russia.
Guerrero has scored 32 goals for his country and helped them finish third in the 2011 and 2015 Copa Americas when he was leading scorer in both tournaments.
Peru are in Group C in Russia along with France, Denmark and Australia having qualified for the first time since 1982.
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