Yeary Álvarez, Spanish player on Athletic Club Bilbao, has tested positive in a doping test made by UEFA before the Europa League semi-final match against Manchester United. The player has been temporarily suspended, and has completely denied taking forbidden substances, offering an explanation instead: the positive was an accidental contamination due to a treatment he takes against hair loss.
Álvarez was diagnosed with testicular cancer in December 2016. He underwent quick surgery and was back to the football pitch in a month and a half, but shortly after he had to undergo chemotherapy. When he came back months later, the entire squad shaved their head in solidarity.
Álvarez has been taken a treatment against alopecia ever since. "After studying the case, we've confirmed that the positive result was due to my unintentional ingestion of a hair loss preventative medication that contained a prohibited substance."
His case is currently in pretrial phase, so he cannot provide further information about the case, but in the meantime he has been temporarily suspended. "It has been a hard blow and I couldn't believe, as I have never taken banned substances". Athletic has sent a message of support for Yeray's "human error".
<social>https://x.com/AthleticClub/status/1943355173331702260</social>