Francesco Acerbi’s lawyer has praised the Italian authorities for wiping the player’s ban for failing a routine doping test.
The defender picked up the automatic suspension at the start of December for failing a test after a game for Sassuolo against Cagliari.
Francesco Acerbi’s lawyer has praised the Italian authorities for wiping the player’s ban for failing a routine doping test.
The defender picked up the automatic suspension at the start of December for failing a test after a game for Sassuolo against Cagliari.
However, yesterday’s appeal to the Anti-Doping Tribunal proved successful, with the argument accepted that the player’s elevated levels of the hormone gonadotropin hGC were down to a relapse of the testicular cancer he had already suffered from in July.
“We are very satisfied because justice has been done, Acerbi can now focus on his care and recovery,” Acerbi’s lawyer Mattia Grassani told reporters after the news.
“It was a very frank and constructive meeting with the Prosecutor’s Office and with the Anti-Doping Tribunal of over an hour.
“They deserve our applause because they have demonstrated a sensitivity and attention to assess the case as exceptional and absolutely devoid of precedent or compared with other cases of doping.
“This approach ahs led to the desired result, which could be no different. Even the suspension was a slanderous accusation for a player like him, who has suffered with this disease, and it has made life impossible.
“This image is now completely removed and he can focus solely on his recovery.”