Changing Room Chat: Herr's loss is down to hair loss

Published on Wednesday 10 September 2008 23:39

AS FAR as excuses for failing a drugs test go, it's right up there with Alain Baxter picking up the wrong type of nasal inhaler and costing himself an Olympic medal.

A German wheelchair basketball player has been sent home from the Paralympics after failing a doping test for a banned substance he insisted he took to combat hair loss.

Ahmet Coskun tested positive for finasteride after a pre-Games urine test, the National Paralympic Committee of Germany (DBS) confirmed yesterday.

"After analysis of the sample the active agent finasteride was verified," stated DBS. "The agent is contained in a hair-loss treatment and is on the list of banned substances.

"Finasteride itself does not enhance performance, but can certainly obscure performance-enhancing drugs."

Coskun, 33, played in Germany's three pool matches, and insists he never intended to break anti- doping rules.

"I was thinking about my hair and had no idea that the drug contained a banned substance," he said. "I'm very upset. I never intended to do doping."

Bomb disposes of Italian match

LAST season's SPL descended into fixture chaos for a variety of reasons, but at least none of them included a game being postponed because of an unexploded bomb.

Salernitana's Serie B home game against Frosinone on Saturday has been called off after an unexploded World War II bomb was found near their ground.

Around 5,000 people were evacuated while the weapon was disarmed, and the local council has said that there will not be the necessary security in place for the weekend game to go ahead.