UNDERSTAND WHY GABIGOL’S CASE IS SEEN AS UNIQUE BY EXPERTS

Flamengo forward Gabriel Barbosa was suspended for two years (one year to be served in practice) for doping test fraud. There is a discussion about the infraction and the size of the penalty, as the tight trial showed. This is explained why the red-black player's case is seen as unique.

In April 2023, there was a visit from the anti-doping team to Flamengo's CT. The inspectors' report is that Gabigol did not respond to the call during the exam, then urinated without showing his penis, as per procedure, and, finally, handed over the open container.

The attacker was reported in the Brazilian court antidoping for attempted anti-doping fraud. According to article 122 of the anti-doping code, the penalty is 4 years, which can be reduced to two years due to mitigating factors. It took two years, to be completed from April 2023 to April 2025.

"If there is (a case like Gabigol), it will be something from the CAS. In the anti-doping court, I confess that I have never seen these peculiarities. Generally, in many of these cases, there is some confidentiality. Data protection. Disclosure ends up being precarious", said lawyer Maurício Corrêa da Veiga, president of the Sports Law commission at the IAB (Institute of Lawyers from Brazil).

"I confess that I don't know of any case that has a similar situation to Gabriel. It's a huge shame for someone who didn't have anything found in their urine. I didn't see a sign of fraud. With except for not having shown his genitals. I don't see the evidence of fraud. I see more of an athlete's error than fraud. I am not aware of a similar case. It seems to me an excessive penalty", said lawyer Gustavo Caputo, auditor of the Brazilian Confederation Skateboarder and teacher at CBF Academy.

What both lawyers say is that cases in which there is a clear attempt at fraud are common. The athlete tries to use other people's urine and even an artificial penis. Or there are cases of athletes who refuse to take the test and then test positive.

"It never happened. With these characteristics. Therefore, it is difficult for judges to have jurisprudence on the case. It was a tight score", recalled Veiga.

In this sense, Caputo understands that Gabriel's defense - carried out by the Bichara e Motta office - asked that his trial already take place in the full anti-doping court to speed up the direct appeal to the CAS (Court of Arbitration for Sport). The issue is that definitive judgments at the CAS usually take around six months.

"I believe that they (the defense) are betting on the suspected effect. In a maximum of one month they can have this judgment of the effect", he analyzed Caputo.