BPreviously he was a regular at Hamburger SV, but on Saturday afternoon Mario Vuskovic was absent from the starting line-up in the second division game against SV Sandhausen (4-2). The 20-year-old central defender is said to have violated the anti-doping law. Before the kick-off, HSV had given “private reasons” for the absence, but after the final whistle the club published a statement and confirmed that “the DFB control committee had initiated a procedure.”
After a training check by the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA), Vuskovic was found to have the substance erythropoietin (Epo). The German Football Association (DFB) did not say exactly when the sample was taken. When asked by the German Press Agency, NADA stated that the sample had been taken on September 16th. Since then, Vuskovic has appeared eight times in the second division and once in the DFB Cup.
The Croatian Vuskovic was initially loaned out by Hajduk Split in the summer, before this season HSV signed him for a fixed fee of 3 million euros. Up until the game against Sandhausen, Vuskovic was in the starting line-up in each of the 16 games in the first half of the season and scored two goals.
Most recently, he played in the 1-0 defeat in Fürth last Wednesday. Vuskovic is considered one of the best defenders in the second division and even had hopes of being included in the Croatian squad for the World Cup in Qatar. National coach Zlatko Dalic ultimately decided against him.
This Sunday, HSV will travel to the USA for nine days and, among other things, play two friendlies there. Vuskovic will not be there. HSV took him out of training and games for the time being. “What we can say: We support Mario Vuskovic and the responsible authorities in the investigation and are in close contact with the DFL and the DFB at the same time,” said HSV.
The public prosecutor’s office in Hamburg has also started investigations. According to NDR information, Vuskovic exercised his right to open the B sample. The DFB control committee asked Vuskovic to comment. In addition, a temporary ban will be imposed on him, which the DFB sports court wants to decide on early next week.
After the end of the first half of the season, HSV is second in the table behind Darmstadt 98 and has legitimate hopes of returning to the Bundesliga. It seems unlikely that HSV will be deducted points. In 2016, the DFB decided to adapt the anti-doping regulations to those of UEFA and FIFA. According to this, game ratings against clubs are only made if the respective club is proven to be at fault or if more than two players in the team have violated the anti-doping rules.