Recently, Saudi Arabia's soccer world has once again been gripped by a doping scandal. After a heated match in the Round of 12, one of the Saudi national team's wingers - Fahd Al-Muwaleed - tested positive for doping, which was confirmed by a second urine test immediately afterward. Now, he is serving a mandatory suspension and faces further penalties. A key player in the Round of 12, Fahd is highly likely to miss the upcoming Qatar
World Cup
Born in 1994, Fahd rose to fame with a spectacular goal back in 2012. In the quarterfinals of the AFC Champions League that year, he scored for Ittihad against Guangzhou coached by Lippi, and with the opposing team leading 2-0, Fahd scored a goal that helped Ittihad to overturn Guangzhou with a total score of 5-4, and in the group stage of the 2013 Asian Cup qualifiers, he scored the first goal and helped Saudi Arabia to beat China with a total score of 2-1. Up to now, Fahd has played more than 70 matches for the Saudi national team and scored 17 goals, making him the top scorer in the Saudi team after the end of the 12-team tournament and one of the key figures in the success of the Saudi team.
However, Fahd seems to be a "regular" when it comes to doping, and this isn't the first time he's had problems with doping tests.In April 2018, Fahd was suspended for a year after being found guilty of doping in the Saudi domestic league.
The incident, although the Saudi side did not specify in which of the Top 12 matches Fahd was tested, was analyzed as likely to be in the March 24 away match against China. Immediately after the match, the entire Saudi team returned to Jeddah to prepare for the March 29 home match against Australia. However, Fahd, who originally made his debut in the match against Australia, was not selected for the 23-man roster, and then the Saudi media exposed the news that Fahd had tested positive for doping.
According to FIFA regulations, a soccer match, even if a player is detected to have taken doping, it will not affect the final result of the match, but the player will be penalized accordingly. Currently, the Saudi side has decided to temporarily suspend all of Fahd's soccer activities and wait for further processing by FIFA.
