Nigerian striker, Orji Okonkwo, has been handed a four-year suspension from football by world’s football governing body, Fifa, after he was found guilty of doping.
Fifa, in a statement on Sunday, said the 24-year-old forward who plays for Serie A side, Bologna, was initially handed a ban by Italian anti-doping agency, Nado Italia, in June.
Fifa’s disciplinary committee has now extended the Nado Italia sanctions to have “worldwide effect”, according to its chairperson Jorge Ivan Palacio.
“Consequently, the Committee decided to extend the sanction imposed on the player by the Italian Nado on 20 June 2022.
“More specifically, the player is sanctioned with a four years suspension from all football-related activities in accordance with the decision,” a Fifa statement said.
Okonkwo who won the 2015 Under-17 World Cup for Nigeria in Chile alongside the likes of Napoli’s Victor Osimhen and Villareal’s Samuel Chukwueze, had allegedly tested positive for a banned steroid, Clostebol, during a loan spell at Cittadella in the Italian lower league.
However, the player has continued to maintain his innocence and claimed he used the substance which is listed is on the World Anti-Doping Code, to treat a problematic knee,
His ban has been backdated to 25 February and he will be free to play again on 24 February 2026.
His representatives have, however, stated that Okonkwo will appeal against the decision of Fifa at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas).