The Brazilian football confederation (CBF) has denied suggestions in the media that medication it gave to Frederico (‘Fred’) Santos Rodrigues caused his positive test at the Copa America. ‘About two months before the start of the Copa America in Chile in 2015, the organisers demanded a complete list of all medications, as well as the amount that would be taken, by the Brazilian team during the competition’, read a 31 July statement. ‘The request was promptly granted, and the list forwarded on 2 April 2015. According to the report of CONMEBOL [Latin American football confederation], the doping control test performed on the athlete in question identified the presence of hydrochlorothiazide, a substance which was not part of the sent list, or on the list of standard medications used by the CBF. So we did not have this drug available to us, nor was it given by the medical staff to the national team.’

The CBF issued the statement, which confirm’s Fred’s positive, in response to suggestions made by Shakhtar Donetsk manager Mircea Lucescu that Fred could have been given hydrochlorothiazide whilst on international duty. “It is very hard to say what really happened”, he told Reuters. I guess the Brazil team doctor should be responsible for things like that. I do not think a guy who can run 13 km per game needs pills, but I will avoid commenting on the issue further until the results of the second test are known.”

UEFA today dismissed Fenerbahçe’s protest over a Shakhtar Donetsk decision to field Fred during a UEFA Champions League qualifying match last week, reports the Associated Press. Apparently, CONMEBOL had not suspended Fred when the first leg of the match, which ended in a 0-0 draw, was played. “Before the game, UEFA advised us not to include him, but we had not received any official documents and this was just a verbal recommendation”, Lucescu told Reuters. “There is no specific statement on this matter for now, and we are still waiting for the results of the B sample”.