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October 2008

Hair Drug Ban Lifted

Oct 2008

The drug which was responsible for Brazilian soccer star Romario's doping ban is being removed from the World Anti-Doping Agency's (WADA) banned list. 

The substance  - sold as finasteride -  was the same drug which saw former Socceroo Stan Lazaridis been banned from playing soccer for 12 months after testing positive in November 2006.

Lazaridis' positive test resulted from treatment he was receiving for alopecia - a condition he disclosed and was accepted by football authorities on his arrival back in Australia from playing in England for West Ham.

Brazilian star Romario tested positive in 2007. Finasteride is not only an ingredient in a popular hair-restoration pill, but was also believed to be capable of masking steroid usage. It was prohibited in 2005.

The former FIFA World Player of the Year, who had used a prescription hair loss product that contained finasteride, was banned for four months.

The 42-year-old's last appearance for Vasco da Gama was against Internacional in November 2007 and he announced his retirement from the sport in March.

Romario also played a handful of games for A-League club Adelaide United two seasons ago.

WADA said today finasteride would be removed from its banned list on January 1 after further study showed athletes gained no tangible advantage from the drug.

Among those affected by the ban on finasteride were American skeleton racer Zach Lund who was banned for a year.

Others who have tested positive for the drug in recent years include NHL goalie Jose Theodore, French runners Nordine Gezzar and Latifa Essarokh, Italian golfer Alessandro Pissilli, Monaco Olympic bobsledder Sebastien Gattuso, New Zealand tennis player Mark Neilsen and Argentine tennis player Mariano Hood.

German wheelchair basketball player Ahmet Coskun was banned from the Paralympics last month after testing positive, and Israeli sailor Udi Gal tested positive this summer, but was allowed to enter the Beijing Games nonetheless.

WADA made the decision to remove finasteride and other alpha-reductase inhibitors late last month, calling the review "an important responsibility ... in the harmonisation of the global fight against doping in sport''.

"These substances have been rendered ineffective as masking agents of steroids,'' WADA said in a statement announcing the change.