Saudi Al-Shabab striker al-Muwallad to resume playing after months-long doping ban 

Al-Shabab striker Fahad al-Muwallad will be free to resume playing in August after an agreement was reached with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) over the ban that cost him a place at last year’s World Cup, Saudi doping officials said on Sunday.

Al-Muwallad, one of his country’s most prolific goal-scorers over the last decade, was handed the ban last May by the Saudi Arabian Anti-Doping Committee (SAADC) after he tested positive for the banned diuretic Furosemide.

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The Saudi Sport Arbitration Center reduced the ban in August, deciding the suspension he had already served was sufficient punishment.

WADA appealed against the reduced ban for the now 28-year-old, who had been suspended for a year in 2019 after testing positive for a banned substance.

In Sunday’s statement, SAADC said it had reached an agreement with WADA under which al-Muwallad would serve his original ban and the global body would withdraw its appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

Al-Muwallad, who has scored 17 goals in 73 internationals, was withdrawn from the Saudi squad days before last year’s World Cup as a “precautionary measure” due to fears of penalties over the doping case.

With his suspension backdated to the date of the failed test in February 2022, al-Muwallad will be eligible to resume playing on Aug. 20, SAADC said.

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