صحافة بلادي صحيفة إلكترونية مغاربية متجددة على مدار الساعة تعنى بشؤون المغرب الجزائر ليبيا موريتانيا تونس
Tunisia– The results of the doping tests that a number of Tunisian national team players underwent following their participation in the 2026 World Cup opened a new file raising controversy within sports circles, after media reports revealed that a banned substance had been detected inEight playersAmid preliminary indications that the cause is likely to be food contamination and not intentional abuse.
newspaper reported “Daily Mail”The British newspaper reported that medical examinations showed unusual results in eight Tunisian national team players, including professionals in the English Premier League, after traces of the substance were found“Clenbuterol”Included on the list of banned substances of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).
According to the available data, the competent authorities believe that the substance was transmitted to the players’ bodies as a result of eating contaminated meat during the team’s stay in Mexico, which makes the imposition of any sports sanctions unlikely if this scenario is confirmed, according to the protocol approved by the World Anti-Doping Agency.
Clenbuterol is used in some medical cases to expand the bronchi, but it is also used to burn fat and maintain muscle mass, which makes it among the banned substances in sports competitions.
This development comes in light of precedents set by Mexico in similar cases, as the Gold Cup tournament in 2011 witnessed the exclusion of five players from its national team before they were later acquitted due to eating contaminated meat. The Under-17 World Cup in the same year recorded more than 100 positive cases of the same substance, and its files were closed after proving its food source.
Since 2022, the World Anti-Doping Agency has adopted a special mechanism to deal with very low levels of clenbuterol, as a preliminary investigation is opened before any decision is taken, and if it is proven that its source is food, the file is closed without imposing penalties.
This issue increases the difficulty of the Tunisian team’s outcome in the 2026 World Cup finals, after it left the competition in the first round following three successive defeats against Sweden (5-1), Japan (4-0), and the Netherlands (3-1), results that ended with the dismissal of coach Sabri Lamouchi after the first match, in a precedent that is the first of its kind in the history of the tournament.
In a related context, several football federations, including the English Football Association, continue to adopt strict precautionary measures during international tournaments, by hiring specialized chefs to supervise the preparation of players’ meals, with the aim of avoiding any cases of food contamination that may affect the results of doping tests.
Source:“My press”
