Asian Games: Tajik footballer fails drugs test

Incheon: A Tajik footballer failed a drugs test and has been thrown out of the Asian Games, officials said Tuesday, in the first doping case to hit the tournament in South Korea.

Defender Khurshed Beknazarov, 20, tested positive for a banned stimulant and now faces a potential ban from international football.

Beknazarov`s urine sample was found to contain methylhexaneamine after he played one half of Tajikistan`s 1-0 win over Singapore on September 14.

Methylhexaneamine is widely found in dietary supplements and sporting authorities say it is increasingly common among professional athletes.

"The athlete has been disqualified from the competition as well as these Games and as such his accreditation withdrawn," an Olympic Council of Asia statement said.

It said the findings would be forwarded to Tajik soccer authorities as well as international football bodies and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) to consider sanctions.

Tajikistan`s men`s team are to play Iraq in the Asian Games second round on Thursday after two wins and a loss in qualifying Group C.

The Asian Games has previously been hit by doping cases, notably in weightlifting and swimming, but the footballer is the first at the current edition in Incheon, South Korea.

There was controversy last week after two sexual harassment cases within two days, resulting in the expulsion of an Iranian football team official.

A Palestinian footballer was also investigated after being accused of groping a woman working at a laundry in the athletes` village.