World Cup News: FIFA Orders Doping Tests To 7 Costa Rica Players Following Victory Against Italy

On June 20, the world watched as Costa Rica beat Italy 1-0 in an unprecedented World Cup soccer match. Against all odds, Costa Rica now leads Group D and has secured a place for themselves in the knockout stage on June 29th. Italy will have to win or draw against Uruguay next week if they wish to move on to the next round. For England, is officially eliminated from group play with the Costa Rican win.

However, not all was celebration after the match, since seven Costa Rican players were called to take doping tests. Usually, after every game FIFA randomly selects two players from each team to undergo the tests, but this time around, the number sure raised some eyebrows. “I don’t know. I’m really shocked that they called seven of our players but two from the other team,” said Eduardo Li, president of the Costa Rican Federation.

“I find it weird that they’re not being fair. We’re going to talk to FIFA. We’re not sure if this is written in the rules and regulations but we will look into it,” Li added. Goalkeeper Keylor Navas and players Bryan Ruiz, Diego Calvo, Michael Barrantes, Celso Borges, Marco Ureña and Christian Bolaños were the ones called in. FIFA later explained that five of the seven selected players didn’t undergo the doping tests at the beginning of the World Cup, which is the norm, and that’s why they called them, plus two more.

It’s written in the rules that FIFA can ask any player at any time to undergo doping tests.