Jordan striker 'mistreated' in Asian Cup drug test
Striker Ahmad Hayel was mistreated during a doping test following the 1-0 loss to Iraq in the Asian Cup on Monday, according to the Jordanian Football Association.
Hayel arrived back at the team hotel “suffering from semicoma, general weakness, and hypothermia”, the Jordanian Football Association said, adding they had filed a complaint to the Asian Football Confederation.
The 30-year-old player vomited in the doping room, which was too cold, and failed to complete the test after playing the full 90 minutes in the Iraq loss, the JFA said.
Citing evidence from their medical officer who accompanied Hayel, the JFA added the player and was only given water to drink, “without salts or electrolytes” in the four hours he spent waiting to give a sample.
“He was in a semicoma status suffering low blood pressure, and at the end the player was sent to the hotel by a car and not with an ambulance and carried to a wheelchair while he was unconscious,” the JFA said.
The AFC defended the anti-doping procedure and said the player should not have consumed so much water.
“The AFC Medical Officer always recommends players selected for doping control to drink water as per normal practice, especially for the player who has played for 90 minutes,” said doctor Paisal Chantarapitak, who attempted to conduct the test.
“It is at the player’s discretion to follow the recommendation or not. The player is not forced to drink plenty of water in short time.”
The AFC added that the doctor decided to cancel the test after Hayel experienced “some dizziness, felt nausea and vomited after his second attempt, which was an hour after his first”.
Earlier, a JFA spokesman said Hayel had been ruled out of Friday’s Group D match against Palestine in Melbourne after the “cancelled” doping test but the player could yet feature.
“Due to the previously mentioned conditions that resulted in Hayel’s bad health condition and the lack of medical care at the doping room, the player might be unable to play Jordan’s next match against Palestine,” the body said.
Experienced striker Hayel has represented his country more than 60 times and plays his club football in Kuwait with Al Arabi. Fifa presidential candidate Prince Ali bin Al Hussein, the head of the JFA, wished Hayel a speedy recovery, the body said.