Deco cleared of doping charges

Zee Media Bureau

New Delhi: Two-time UEFA Champions League winner, Deco has been cleared of doping charges because of faulty testing by a Rio de Janeiro laboratory. The Brazilian-born former Portuguese international was banned for one year after traces of a diuretic furosemide were found in his test samples in Brazil last year. The drug can help hide performance-enhancing substances. He was playing for the Fluminense in the Brazilian league after successful spells with various clubs in Europe. Following the suspension, the former FC Porto, Barcelona and Chelsea midfielder approached the Court of Arbitration for Sport stating his innocence. And his samples were retested in Lausanne, Switzerland, with FIFA declaring the absence of "prohibited substance(s) or metabolite(s) or marker(s) of a prohibited method(s)." The laboratory has been suspended from involvement in the World Cup. Deco won the Champions League with Porto and Barcelona, and the English Premier League with Chelsea. With Agency inputs