Senegal star Keita Balde set to miss World Cup after being handed worldwide ban for violating anti-doping protocol
SENEGAL star Keita Balde is set to miss the World Cup after being handed a 90-day ban for breaking anti-doping protocol.
Balde, 27, is suspended until December 5 - with the group stages of the World Cup set to take place before that date.
The Spartak Moscow star was found to be in breach of protocol surrounding a drug test he gave while playing for Cagliari.
After featuring for the Serie A side in a 5-1 defeat to Udinese in April Balde was called to give a test.
It returned a negative result but Balde broke protocol and has subsequently been suspended by the Italian National Anti-Doping Court.
And according to Fifa rules, that ban must be upheld by the Russian Football Union.
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Unfortunately for Balde the ban begins now so he is set to miss the group stages of the World Cup.
That means a call-up to the squad is unlikely, although the forward can return to training 22 days before the end of his ban.
Keita is not the only one at risk of missing out in Qatar, with Ecuador waiting to find out if they will be kicked out over the Byron Castillo scandal.
The world governing body are investigating whether the right-back, who plays for Mexican side Leon, was born in Ecuador or in Colombia.
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Castillo has 10 caps for Ecuador and helped them reach the World Cup finals in Qatar this winter.
But the Daily Mail claims it has an audio recording from four years ago of Castillo giving his name as the one matching his alleged Colombian birth certificate.
Castillo also says he was born THREE years earlier than the age on his Ecuadorian birth certificate.