Peru captain Paolo Guerrero has been cleared to play at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia after a Swiss tribunal ruled on his drug ban. The court agreed on Thursday to temporarily lift a 14-month suspension, imposed by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), while it considered the 34-year-old striker’s appeal.
Guerrero, who scored five goals in 17 appearances for Peru in the qualifiers, was announced to have failed the doping control test after after a qualifying clash against Argentina last October.
He received a preemptive 30-day suspension from FIFA, and missed the World Cup play-off tie against New Zealand, eventually won by Peru.
It was later revealed that Guerrero tested positive for cocaine and metabolite benzoylecgonine after drinking contaminated tea containing the substance.
As a result, he was banned by FIFA from all competitions for one year, meaning that he could not participate in the World Cup in Russia.
FIFA later reduced the ban to six months discarding drug use after appeal, making Guerrero eligible for the World Cup.
However, earlier this month, the Court of Arbitration for Sport upheld the appeal filed by the World Anti-Doping Agency, extending the ban to 14 months.
Captains of Peru’s Group C rivals Australia, Denmark and France wrote to FIFA asking them to lift the ban.
