September 20, 2022
The brief from today:
Multiple doping bans take effect
Failed doping tests amongst athletes has typically been found in sports such as cycling and athletics, but unfortunately football isn’t immune to the issue. While infrequent, footballers have been known to return positive tests when randomly tested, and in recent days there have been quite a few incidents. Out of the recent bans instituted, the more well known name has been Senegal winger, Keita Balde Diao. Balde, who was with Serie A side, Cagliari, last season, was flagged by the Italian anti-doping agency following a drug test done in April. The result of this is now a 90-day ban that concludes on December 5. Balde, now playing in Russia for Spartak Moscow, can resume training in a formal setting on November 12, but participating in matches won’t be prior to December 5. While he is considered to be a key part of the Senegal squad, it remains to be seen whether coach, Aliou Cisse, will use one of his World Cup call ups on a player that won’t be eligible for any group stage matches. In addition to Balde, there have recently been two others embroiled in similar situations: Nigerian, Orji Okonkwo, and Honduran, Wisdom Quaye. The 24-year-old Okonkwo, who won the U-17 World Cup with Nigeria a few years ago, is now playing for Serie A side, Bologna. Following a failed drug test in February with showed the banned steroid, clostebol, in his bloodwork, Okonkwo was sentenced to a hefty four-year ban in June. FIFA has now stepped in and extended that ban outside of Italy to a worldwide sanction. Clostebol also appeared in the lab results of Honduras defender, Wisdom Quaye. The player openly admitted to using the steroid, and has now received an 18-month ban. The manner in which these sentencing timelines are decided isn’t quite clear, specifically considering how varied they are, but the repeated offenses certainly leave a negative taint on the sport.
Keita Balde is one of a number of players currently banned by the anti doping authorities
Leipzig fill their sporting director role
The Red Bull group, which counts RB Leipzig and RB Salzburg as part of their football teams, have done an impressive job with recruitments over the past few years. Current Austria coach, Ralf Rangnick, held the director of football role over both Leipzig and Salzburg from 2012-2021, and was credited for a lot of both sides’ success. Following his departure, the two clubs recruited individual sporting directors: Leipzig hired Markus Kroesche, and Salzburg brought in Christophe Freund. The latter has been quite shrewd with his business and scouting, even drawing serious interest from Chelsea to occupy the same role for them. As for Kroesche, he left Leipzig almost as soon as he joined, moving on to Eintracht Frankfurt instead where he built a team that won last season’s Europa League. Going into this season, the sporting director role at Leipzig still hadn’t officially been filled since April 2021, but that has now been addressed. The club have appointed former Borussia Monchengladbach sporting director, Max Eberl, who hasn’t been working since January. Eberl, in a very emotional, admirable, and vulnerable press conference 11 months ago, announced that he would take time away from the sport because he felt “drained and tired”. The effect the job was taking on his mental and physical health wasn’t worth continuing in those conditions, so the former Gladbach player admitted to the team that he didn’t currently have “the strength to carry out the job in the way the club deserves”. Eberl oversaw a successful 13-year period as sporting director at his former club, which saw the team finally qualify for Europe, and consistently finish in the top nine in 10 straight seasons. He initially didn’t want to make a return until next summer, but a compromise was reached with Leipzig chairman, Oliver Mintzlaff, and Eberl will commence his new role in December. Eberl gave a brief statement regarding his return stating that he is “grateful for the time needed to recover” and feels “ready and full of strength again”.
Max Eberl, following some time away from football, will be RB Leipzig’s new sporting director