Eight famous footballers who failed doping tests

Updated: 12 Sept 2023 10:23 BST
4 min read

Diego Maradona, 1994, doping — © ProShots

Former Manchester United star Paul Pogba has been provisionally suspended after failing a doping test following Juventus' 3-0 win over Udinese.

The 30-year-old tested positive for elevated levels of testosterone and, if his B sample confirms the initial results, could face a ban of up to four years.

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But the Frenchman is far from the only high-profile footballer to fail a drug test. FootballTransfers has collated a list of more big names who shared a similar fate.

PAUL POGBA: The most disastrous return in football history

Diego Maradona

The biggest name on this list and one of the most famous footballers of all time, the iconic and notorious Diego Maradona was known for his extravagant lifestyle.

Indeed, his bending of the rules came back to bite the Argentine legend more than once during his playing days, and in 1994, it ended his international career. After already having been banned for 15 months in 1991 for the use of cocaine, the forward was sent home from the 1994 World Cup after testing positive for Ephedrine.

Andre Onana

A case still fresh in the memory is that of Manchester United goalkeeper Andre Onana, who was banned from football in 2021. The then-Ajax star tested positive for Furosemide and UEFA handed him a 12-month suspension.

The Cameroon international claimed that he unintentionally took his pregnant wife's medicine and the ban was reduced to nine months. Onana got his career back on track at Inter before his Old Trafford move.

Pep Guardiola

The current Manchester City boss was banned during his playing days for allegedly having consumed Nandrolone. The then-Brescia man was given a four-month suspension in 2001, but charges were dropped after a successful appeal...six years later.

Samir Nasri

A much more recent case is that of Guardiola's former Man City player Samir Nasri. The Frenchman was banned in 2018 and his inclusion is one of the stranger ones on this list.

Nasri paid a visit to Los Angeles-based clinic Drip Doctors for an "Immunity IV drip to help keep him hydrated and in top health during his busy soccer season." This was deemed a "prohibited method" and the former Arsenal man was slapped with a six-month ban.

By the way, Nasri tweeted afterwards that the Drip Doctors nurse "provided me a full sexual service too right after," though he later claimed that his account had been hacked.

Kolo Toure

Another ex-Man City and Arsenal player, Kolo Toure was suspended in 2009 for taking his wife's water tablets. An FA report outlined that he took them because of "a misplaced perception that he was fat, a symptom of his medical condition." The Ivorian was banned for six months.

Adrian Mutu

Romanian forward Adrian Mutu arrived at Chelsea for the sizeable fee of €19 million in 2003, but his Blues career was over just a year later when he tested positive for cocaine.

He was handed a seven-month ban and left London in October 2004, which preceded a lengthy legal battle with the Blues.

Mark Bosnich

Another former Chelsea man, Australian goalkeeper Mark Bosnich also tested positive for cocaine but a year earlier than Mutu. Bosnich was banned for nine months, claiming that a spiked drink had been the reason for failing the anti-doping test.