Sanchez in anti-doping controversy
Alexis Sanchez is at the centre of an alleged doping storm after it was claimed he missed a drugs test at Arsenal’s training ground on Monday.
It is unclear who was at fault and whether it is Sanchez or Arsenal who could be facing a possible sanction. Indeed, there is even confusion about whether doping control officers attended Arsenal’s London Colney base.
Initial reports in Spain said testers from UEFA had arrived and requested a sample from Sanchez only to discover he was not there, but UEFA on Thursday denied any involvement.
More likely is the possibility that Sanchez has fallen foul of ‘whereabouts’ rules, having travelled north to complete his move to Manchester United when his whereabouts details still showed him in London.
Clubs must provide whereabouts details for training sessions — which players will be training with which squad — but in the Premier League it is the responsibility of the individual player to update his own whereabouts details.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger spoke about the missed test yesterday: “On Monday there was a lot going on and it was a special day for Alexis Sanchez. You have to do paperwork, you have to travel. Is he still our player on Monday or not?
“You don’t know, negotiations are going on. It is a special event for him to miss a drugs test because he was certainly busy somewhere else with his agent.
“Honestly, on the administration side, certainly it will still be our responsibility. On the day he had not moved so maybe it will be down to us. It will be our responsibility.”
An individual can face up to a two-year ban if he has three whereabouts failures in 12 months but it is not known if it is a first, second or third strike for either Sanchez or Arsenal.