ANDRE ONANA claims there is still a huge “stain” on his name following a 12-month doping ban.
Manchester United’s new £47.2million keeper wants to create his own “legacy” at Old Trafford after boss Erik ten Hag signed him from Inter Milan to replace David de Gea.
GettyAndre Onana is one of few players on the planet to be found guilty of doping[/caption]
But in February 2021, Onana, now 27, was barred from all football for a year by Uefa after testing positive for banned drug furosemide while at former club Ajax.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport later reduced his suspension to nine months after he insisted he accidentally took one of girlfriend Melanie’s pregnancy medicine pills instead of a headache tablet.
But he is still one of very few footballers on the planet to be found guilty of doping.
And he admitted: “Everything I’d worked for had been taken away.
“Andre Onana banned for taking drugs. Like some addict. How do you explain that to your family?
“I get it. The law is the law. You f*** up, you pay the price. I paid. But sometimes you wonder, are they punishing you to teach you a lesson, or are they doing it to hurt you?
“The sanction meant I couldn’t go to matches, train with the team, or attend the title celebration at the end of the season — even though I’d played every match until the ban!
“How is that fair? People around me changed. Some disappeared altogether.”
GettyOnana tested positive for banned drug furosemide while at former club Ajax[/caption]
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Onana had become a Cameroon international at 20, a Europa League finalist at 21 and a Champions League semi-finalist at 23.
Born in the tiny village of Nkol Ngok, he joined LaLiga giants Barcelona at 14 before moving to Ajax at 18. But his world fell apart because of a 40mg pill.
In an interview with The Players’ Tribune he added: “A lot of people saw the headlines. ‘Onana? Oh, he got banned for taking drugs. He’s a cheat, an addict’.
“Even after everything that came out — the CAS statement and the rest — it’s a stain on my name.”
In October 2020, Onana received a call from the Ajax doctor, who told him he had tested positive for furosemide. The keeper thought it was a joke. He added: “I don’t drink, don’t smoke, never touched drugs.
“I’d never even heard of furosemide. The only pills I’d put in my body were ones the club or national team doctors prescribed.
“After I spoke with Ajax, I called Melanie. I was sure it was a mistake. She said, ‘Andre, furosemide, that’s in the pregnancy medicine the doctors gave me’.
“Then it hit me. It wasn’t some admin error. I must have gone for a headache pill and got the boxes mixed up.
“Still, Uefa could see it was just human error. They investigated and I thought they would show me a yellow card. But, nah, they went straight for the red.
“Twelve months’ ban. No football. Gone, just like that.
“In the summer, when CAS reduced the ban to nine months, I celebrated like I’d won the Champions League!
“They even said there was no significant fault on my part. That was something. They can’t take the stain away but they cleaned it a little.”
Onana added: “Now I’m playing again, I want to become a legend — the best goalie in the world.”
Full interview at theplayerstribune.com.