Anti-Doping Scandal: Former La Liga midfielder tested positive for banned substance but case dismissed

After a series of revelations surrounding the Spanish Anti-Doping Agency (CELAD), the latest involved Alcorcon midfielder Yan Eteki. The Cameroonian tested positive for injected betamethasone, but the case never had a hearing.

In 2019, Eteki tested positive for the banned substance, which is considered doping by WADA, after a 4-2 victory in Segunda over Lugo, Eteki after Almeria tested positive after the match. The substance was used to reduce swelling after a sprained ankle, and was administered by Almeria doctor Jose Ramon Pineda Guillen. The player never opened the notification from EXECUTIONERand so he missed the 10 days of response he had, in which he could request a retroactive authorization.

After the incident, Pineda and the president of Almeria Alfonso Garcia Gabarron, both of them acknowledged that the substance had been administered in letters, after they got wind of the positive test. The original test was on May 5th, and the results came back on May 29th.

Pineda explained that he had administered the substance without knowing that he had to ask for a special permit to use it, relying on his medical training and putting the error on his inexperience in the world of professional sports.

Then he admitted that he was worried about the player – who was in the middle of a transfer to Granada that summer from the parent club Sevilla, where he will play three seasons in the League. They had stalled the deal until the matter was resolved, and Pineda explained that Eteki was at economic risk because of his mistake.

Now the indisposed head of CELAD at the time, Javier Munoz-Guerra, filed the case without special permission for the use of the drug from the adjudication committee. Relief, accept Pineda's reasoning as valid – flauting protocol in the process. As such, the case was dismissed and Eteki signed for Granada, before moving to Casa Pia and then to Alcorcon last summer.

WADA has opened an investigation into the case, after a series of positive tests covered in all sports were attributed to CELAD, and the Spanish agency runs the risk of losing its ability to oversee Spanish professional sport while meet world anti-doping standards. If CELAD does not make the necessary changes and cooperate with the investigation, it could see Spain's participation in major international tournaments at risk, which is especially relevant given that the 2030 World Cup is planned there.