Football: World Cup rivals seek reprieve for banned Peru skipper

  • 22/05/2018
Paulo Guerrero
Peru captain Paulo Guerrero. Photo credit: Reuters

The banned Peru captain who sat out their win over the All Whites in November's FIFA World Cup qualifiers has gained support from some unlikely sources.

The captains of all three nations who'll face Peru in pool play in Russia have joined together to pen a letter, in the hope of allowing Paulo Guerrero to play at the June-July tournament.

Guerrero, 34, has been suspended by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), after testing positive for cocaine.

Both football's ruling body FIFA and CAS have agreed that Guerrero did not mean to take the banned substance, and it did not enhance his performance.

Now, in an extraordinary show of sportsmanship, Australia captain Mile Jedinak, Hugo Lloris of France and Denmark's Simon Kjaer have appealed to help Guerrero beat the ban at the 11th-hour.

"Peru is returning to football's ultimate stage after a 36-year absence, and we believe Paolo Guerrero should be allowed to lead his nation and celebrate what will be a career highlight," read an open letter from the trio that was published through FIFPro, the world players' union.

"We respectfully ask that the FIFA Council to show compassion... and kindly put forward an urgent case for clemency by asking the FIFA Council to temporarily interrupt the ban."

Professional Footballers Australia chief John Didulica is also a signatory to the request.

There's little precedent to suggest the 'Hail Mary' approach will be successful, but Guerrero has a meeting with FIFA boss Gianni Infantino on Tuesday (local time) to push his own case.

Guerrero's teammates are hoping that heaven will smile on their top striker.

"May God decide what happens," defender Luis Advincula said. "If there's a chance of hope, we're all going to cling to it.

"May God let his meeting with the president of FIFA be positive, so he may play in the 2018 Russia World Cup, which is what all Peru wants."

Guerrero was originally suspended for a year after a routine doping test detected a cocaine metabolite in October 2017.

FIFA subsequently reduced the penalty to six months and the player returned to action with Brazilian club Flamengo in May.

Guerrero appeared before the Court of Arbitration for Sport earlier this month to argue that the suspension was unjustified, maintaining that the cocaine entered his system in a pot of tea.

The World Anti-Doping Agency asked CAS to increase the length of Guerrero's suspension to two years.

Last Monday, CAS extended Guerrero's suspension to 14 months, keeping him off the field until January 2019.

Peru are attending their first World Cup since 1982.

EFE/Newshub.