Cannavaro meets doping officials
MILAN - Italy captain Fabio Cannavaro will meet up with his team-mates as expected on Sunday and the issue of his failed drugs test has already been resolved, coach Marcello Lippi said on Friday.
![](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/Eyv9BfwwqnX8Uy6Pw2swN.jpg)
The Juventus defender received emergency cortisone treatment for an insect bite on August 28 and then failed a dope test after a Serie A match two days later, the club said on Thursday.
Cannavaro had requested an exemption after being treated for the bite but did not receive it before he was tested.
"I haven't heard from Fabio, there was no need. Everything was cleared up in two hours," Lippi told reporters.
He was already suspended for Italy's World Cup qualifier in Ireland on Saturday, when a point will put the world champions through to next year's finals, but is due to meet up with the squad on Sunday ahead of Wednesday's home game with Cyprus.
"Definitely yes," Lippi said when asked if the 36-year-old would join the Azzurri on Sunday.
Media reports said Cannavaro was spotted meeting the Italian Olympic Committee's (CONI) anti-doping chief Ettore Torri in Turin late on Thursday and that a judgment may come on Friday.
Cannavaro should escape a doping ban but Juve could be fined, the reports added.
Get FourFourTwo Newsletter
The best features, fun and footballing quizzes, straight to your inbox every week.
"It would be awful to make this out as a doping case when it isn't," Juve and Italy team mate Giorgio Chiellini told reporters. "I was there when Fabio was stung by the wasp. His arm swelled up straight away. He is calm and so are we."
Torri has been relentless in his battle against doping and has charged sports personalities even when they have argued that their positive tests were the result of accidents.
Cyclist Alessandro Petacchi failed a drugs test for salbutamol and despite arguing that the results were because he had overused his asthma inhaler, Torri still banned him for a year and the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) agreed.
Cannavaro was famously videoed inserting a drip into his arm on the eve of a 3-0 victory over Olympique Marseille in the 1999 UEFA Cup final when playing for Parma.
His lawyer confirmed the drip contained Neoton, a drug used in cardiac surgery to protect the heart, and was not on the World Anti-Doping Agency's list of banned substances.
![LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - NOVEMBER 5: Arne Slot Manager of Liverpool congratulates Mohamed Salah of Liverpool after the 4-0 victory during the UEFA Champions League 2024/25 League Phase MD4 match between Liverpool FC and Bayer 04 Leverkusen at Anfield on November 5, 2024 in Liverpool, England. (Photo by Crystal Pix/MB Media/Getty Images)](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/q3ie7X2vDDiU7X6C9HVRK7-840-80.jpg)
‘The pure simplicity of the way Slot has managed the squad is probably the biggest thing I could say about him. It’s not broken, so let’s get on with it’: Liverpool legend full of admiration for Jurgen Klopp's successor at Anfield
![CARDIFF, UNITED KINGDOM - JUNE 02: Wales captain Ryan Giggs shakes the hand of manager John Toshack after being substituted on his last International appearance for his country during the Euro 2008 Group D Qualifying Match between Wales and Czech Republic at the Millennium Stadium on June 2, 2007 in Cardiff, Wales. Photo by (Stu Forster/Getty Images)](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/ooQ9oNmgvfUUG8TBUhn6BK-840-80.jpg)
‘I trained at Spurs and thought they’d give me a chance. But I received a letter thanking me but saying they didn’t think I was good enough – I was gutted’: How Tottenham missed out on signing Wales legend John Toshack