DONETSK, Ukraine – Ukraine goalkeeper Oleksandr Rybka received a two-year doping ban Monday, ruling him out of the European Championship being co-hosted by his own country.
Rybka, who plays for club side Shakhtar Donetsk, tested positive for a banned diuretic in November, one month after making his national team debut.
His two-year ban was imposed by UEFA, and runs through Jan. 10, 2014.
“This suspension covers all types of matches, including domestic, international, friendly and official fixtures played under the UEFA jurisdiction,” the European body said in a statement.
UEFA said it will ask FIFA to extend the suspension globally, preventing Rybka from playing in any of the other five football confederations.
Shakhtar plans to appeal to UEFA on Rybka’s behalf.
“In Shakhtar’s view it is an extraordinarily harsh sentence, which does not fully correspond to the scale of the footballer’s offence,” the club said.
Shakhtar officials told local media that Rybka used the diuretic to lose weight, but didn’t tell club doctors.
Ukraine, which is co-hosting the Euro 2012 tournament with Poland, will play France and England in Rybka’s home stadium in June. The group also includes Sweden.
