Flamengo and Brazil striker Gabriel Barbosa has been sentenced to a two-year ban from football for committing anti-doping fraud.

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• Gabigol found guilty of anti-doping fraud
• Handed two-year ban from football
• Suspension ends in 2025 after 'starting' in 2023

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  WHAT HAPPENED?

  The 27-year-old forward, who has 18 caps for Brazil, was handed a two-year ban from football after a court's ruling on Monday, per . Barbosa, more commonly known as Gabigol, was found to have committed "fraud or attempted fraud of any part of the control process" of doping. This means that the striker was found to have made it difficult to carry out anti-doping tests, even if those were found to be negative.

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  THE BIGGER PICTURE

  Those deliberate efforts to evade testing were revealed in Monday's ruling. notes that Gabigol was the only player to delay taking an anti-doping test on April 8, 2023. When he eventually took said examination, he was found to ignore procedures and instructions, treating the team involved with disrespect. Seven witnesses gave testimony in Monday's trial, as well as Gabigol, with the eventual vote going 5:4 against the Flamengo star.

• WHAT FLAMENGO SAID

  A statement released on Monday by Gabigol's employers read as follows: "Clube de Regatas do Flamengo, taking note of the result of the trial of its athlete Gabriel Barbosa, in the sense of applying a 2-year suspension sentence, until April 2025, by 5 votes for conviction and 4 for acquittal, goes public to say that it received the aforementioned decision with surprise and that it will assist the athlete in presenting an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), as it understands that there was no type of fraud, not even an attempt, to justify the punishment applied."

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  DID YOU KNOW?

  As Flamengo's statement alludes to, Gabigol plans to appeal the decision. However, he could have been handed a harsher sentence, as notes a conviction for anti-doping fraud carries a maximum punishment of a four-year ban.