Croatian Footballer Gets Banned For Doping Extended To 4 years By Sports Court

Croatia Under-21 football player Mario Vušković had his ban for doping doubled to four years on Tuesday in a ruling by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

The German national anti-doping agency said it won an appeal jointly filed with the World Anti-Doping Agency to extend a two-year ban originally imposed by the German football federation.

Vušković, a defender for second-tier club Hamburger SV, is now banned from football through Nov. 15, 2026. He will turn 25 the next day.

Vušković tested positive in 2022 for EPO, a blood-boosting hormone that has been popular with endurance athletes in cycling and distance running.

The German football federation ruled in March 2023 that a two-year ban was appropriate because evidence did not point to the player being involved in a “structured” doping program.

The football federation judge at the original tribunal also suggested Vušković should get a less-harsh sanction because he was younger and would lose out financially.

WADA and its German affiliate appealed to CAS seeking a full four-year ban. A two-day hearing held in May was unusual for a case at sports' highest court in being filmed and later broadcast in full.