Banned professional after CAS ruling
©IMAGO
HSV professional Mario Vuskovic has once again asserted his innocence after the four-year doping ban imposed on him. “I feel like we live in a world where truth and justice no longer mean anything,” the 22-year-old Croatian wrote on Instagram. He therefore wanted to send a message to those who put his entire life in danger, Vuskovic wrote: “I have done nothing wrong and I will not stop fighting until I have proven my innocence.”
The International Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) not only confirmed the ban on the defender from second division club Hamburger SV in the appeal process. The highest sports judges also accepted the appeal of the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and even increased the sentence to four years. It is unclear what will happen to Vuskovic at HSV. The club and Vuskovic want to examine the reasons for the verdict carefully first, it was said after the verdict, which neither the player nor HSV had expected. They had expected an acquittal.
According to information from the “Hamburger Abendblatt”, HSV will most likely have to terminate the defender’s contract, which runs until 2025, because the board could potentially be committing a criminal offense if he continues to pay his salary. The reason: Vuskovic cannot fulfill his employment contract, even though he is healthy. According to the paper, the club’s management must comply with the capital company’s duty to look after its assets.
HSV professional Vuskovic suspended: Sports director Kuntz must react to transfer market
“You can be sure that I will be successful and come back stronger than ever,” wrote Vuskovic. The Croatian was found guilty of taking the blood doping agent EPO by the German Football Association’s sports court in 2023 and was given a two-year ban retroactively from November 15, 2022. This has now even been extended until autumn 2026.
Vuskovic initially moved to HSV on loan from Hajduk Split at the end of August 2021 and was then signed permanently for 3 million euros. Until his suspension, he played 47 times for the northern Germans (three goals, two assists). “We hope that the CAS will make a ruling soon. If it turns out negatively for Mario, we would still take action in his position,” HSV sports director Stefan Kuntz told the magazine “11Freunde”. The manager still has time to do this until the deadline day tomorrow Friday at 8 p.m.
