‘Papu’ Gomezcurrent world champion with Argentina, has been ostracized since he had to leave the competition after being sanctioned for doping before the 2023 World Cup. In an interview in ‘El Larguero’ (Ser), the former Sevilla player talks about the sanction and his desire to return. His intention is clear: he wants to feel like a footballer again.
“If they don’t reduce my sanction, I could officially return in October but I’m already seeing the light a little. I want to play again, I’m super motivated. After serving 50% of the sanction you can return to training in a team,” he says. . “I looked for something close to home, near Bergamo. I found Renate Calcio’s agent and they opened the doors for me to be able to train with the first team. I’m going every day and I’m super happy. Let’s see if I can find a team in July and I can now play in October.”
Regarding his sanction, ‘Papu’ affirms that “it had to be given when it had to be given.” “In 20 years of profession, I don’t know how many times I have taken a syrup or something that I shouldn’t have taken and nothing ever happened. And this time it did. What catches my attention is that the control was on a Monday, it wasn’t on a day of competition and my next match was against Rayo on a Friday or Saturday, which means that what I took could not have created any advantage in me, an elite athlete, which means that the sanction is absurd.”
His wife put him on the trail
“You must tell the doctor what you have taken and since I take sleeping pills before games because it is difficult for me to sleep, I was so sleepy that I didn’t even remember to tell him that I had taken the child’s cough syrup. I just got up, I trained and when it was my turn to dope I told him everything I had taken, normal things, but I forgot about the syrup. It was a mistake. But I don’t accept that for a cough syrup I have to eat two years of suspension. That can’t have any effect on me.”
Papu says that in the three surprise tests at the World Cup he tested negative. “I didn’t understand anything. I was in the hotel room and I received an email. I almost fainted, it was a very hard blow. I was alone and when I saw the substance, terbutaline, I asked the doctor and he told me it was something for coughs. So I asked my wife if we had anything at home with that component and she told me ‘yes, Flutox’ and then I realized that I took that from the child.
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Asked if anyone has disappointed him during this time, he answers: “Yes, but I think it’s normal. When you’re at the top everyone shows up and when you’re in hell there are few who reach out to you. It was a learning experience and it makes you open your eyes.”
