Jordan yesterday lodged a formal protest at the Asian Cup after claiming a bungled doping test made one of their players sick.
Striker Ahmad Hayel could miss Jordan’s game against Palestine tomorrow after he was made to drink “several liters of water” as a result of being unable to provide a urine sample following Monday’s 1-0 defeat by Iraq.
Jordan’s Football Association (FA) said it caused him to vomit and feel dizzy, and a team doctor said the test had to be canceled.
Jordan FA secretary-general Fadi Zureikat said the association had made a formal protest to the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) complaining about the “unhealthy procedure taken in Ahmad Hayel’s doping test.”
“Ahmad Hayel arrived at the hotel after the doping test [in a] semi-coma, and with hypothermia. The doping control room was too cold. The player was given water to drink for four hours [only water without any liquids containing salts or electrolytes],” Zureikat said.
“Ahmad Hayel began vomiting [and received] no medical care from the AFC. No ambulance was called for the player. He was suffering low blood pressure, and we had to take the player back to the hotel by private car, in a wheelchair, while he was unconscious,” he added.
Jordan FA president and FIFA presidential hopeful Prince Ali Bin al-Hussein checked up on the condition of Hayel by phone, Zureikat said.
“The player was one of two players chosen by lots for a mandatory dope test,” team doctor Adel Skirji said on the Jordan FA Web site. “Ahmad Hayel was unable to give a sample, which is normal as he had lost a lot of fluid during the game and needed more time to rehydrate.”
“When [testing officials] tried to making him drink lots of water it quickly reduced his temperature and he began to throw up and feel dizzy,” he said.
Jordan coach Ray Wilkins was said to be furious at the incident, which could deprive him of the player for tomorrow’s game in Melbourne.
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