Italians call for sting to be taken out of Cannavaro punishment

Published on Saturday 10 October 2009 19:43

JUVENTUS and Italy defender Fabio Cannavaro did not commit a doping offence and should be cleared because he took cortisone only to treat a wasp sting, the Italian Olympic Committee's anti-doping prosecutor said yesterday.

Prosecutor Ettore Torri will now recommend to an anti-doping tribunal, due to meet in the coming days, that the Italy captain should not receive any sanction. The tribunal will make the final decision. "The prosecutor asks for the case to be dropped," a statement from the prosecutor's office said. "We can exclude (the possibility] that Cannavaro is responsible," the statement added. "This office reserves the right to make further judgments in the future over other parties... which were responsible."

It was not clear from the statement who those other parties might be.

Cannavaro received emergency cortisone treatment after being stung by the wasp at Juve training on 28 August and then failed a dope test after a Serie A match two days later. The 36-year-old had requested an exemption after being treated for the sting but did not receive the documentation before he was tested. He was suspended for Italy's World Cup qualifier in Dublin against the Republic of Ireland last night, but is due to meet up with the squad today ahead of Wednesday's home game with Cyprus.

Spain's La Liga must push ahead with plans for earlier kick-off times if it wants to compete with the English Premier League in Asia and the Middle East, according to Spain striker Fernando Torres.

"La Liga... is already lagging behind in not playing matches at 3pm," the Liverpool striker said in an interview published in yesterday's As newspaper.

"The Premier League has the best media profile in the world. Part of that success is down to the times of the matches which means they can be watched all around the world, especially in Asia and the Middle East."

La Liga games involving Real Madrid and Barcelona often kick off at 10pm Spanish time (4am in Beijing) and the professional soccer league has said it is considering playing some matches earlier to tap into global markets.