Messi’s Argentina teammate Papu Gomez was banned for 2 years for doping. After Gomez’s punishment, will Lionel Messi and his teammate be stripped of the World Cup title?
Papu Gomez, teammate of superstar Lionel Messi, recently received a 2-year suspension for testing positive for doping. The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) informed midfielder Papu Gomez this week that he tested positive for a banned substance since November 2022.
Papu Gomez received a 2-year suspension for testing positive for doping
Papu Gomez tested for doping right before the 2022 World Cup, and tested positive. However, WADA did not notify him of this result until October 2023, and it is unclear why it took them 11 months to do so. Notably, Gomez later joined the Argentina team to win the world championship at the 2022 World Cup .
Papu Gomez is a member of the Argentina team that won the 2022 World Cup. However, player Papu Gomez is not used in big matches. The star born in 1988 often sits on the bench when the trio of Enzo Fernández, Rodrigo De Paul and Alexis Mac Allister are trusted by coach Scaloni in the 2022 World Cup finals.
However, by being on the Argentina team list for the 2022 World Cup, Papu Gomez still has the world championship, the desired title for millions of players. Besides, Papu Gomez also won the Europa League title with Sevilla Club.
Will Lionel Messi and his teammates be deprived of the World Cup?
According to WADA regulations, Gomez will be stripped of the 2022 World Cup title, as well as the 2023 Europa League. Gomez was stripped of the two Europa League and World Cup titles won with Club Sevilla and the Argentina team, but these two teams have stripped of their championship because of one person’s fault? According to WADA’s anti-doping rules, there must be 2 members testing positive for banned substances to be stripped of their championship.
Therefore, the Argentina team and Sevilla Club will only lose the championship in case another player tests positive for doping. There is a notable detail: although Papu Gomez was positive when tested before the World Cup, at the start of the World Cup, the player’s test results for banned substances were all negative. And doping testing at the World Cup is done on all, let me repeat, all players registered for the tournament, so up to now no Argentinian player has been “contaminated”.
If one more player in the Argentine team is doped before the World Cup, superstar Lionel Messi and his teammates face the possibility of being stripped of the 2022 World Cup.
