From being banned for doping to going to AFCON to play for the host country. That was the life of Andre Onana in the last year or so. The Ajax goalkeeper made an unwilling mistake and was suspended for a year, which was later reduced to nine months. But the Cameroonian managed to survive and recently came back to the team, and in June, he will leave the club as a free agent and probably sign with Inter Milan. Onana finally decided to speak for The Guardian and talk about the incident and the problems he had because of the false accusations. Suspended African arrives – Inter’s first signing for 2022Onana was feeling unwell on the morning of October 30th, 2020. He wanted to take a pill to ease the discomfort. Unknowingly, however, he took Lasimac, a drug that his wife had previously been prescribed. Onana’s confusion resulted in him mistakenly taking his wife’s medicine, ultimately causing this measure to be taken by UEFA against the goalkeeper. Furthermore, the disciplinary body of the football association has stated that Onana had no intention of cheating. However, the European Football Association believed, on the basis of the applicable anti-doping rules, that an athlete has a duty at all times to ensure that no banned substances enter the body. So, the punishment stayed, but the sentence was reduced from twelve to nine months. Still not good. Twelve-months suspension for Onana after using his wife’s painkillersAnd Onana talked about all the negative aspects of the situation, even though he was innocent. “It’s unbelievable: 40 milligrams can destroy a career. But I was just a number. They cannot treat every case. Yes, I think they should, but rules are rules. The doctors admitted it was really a mistake, but you are responsible for everything in your body. If you buy a bottle of water that turns out to be contaminated, it’s your fault. You need to be careful. It’s doping, you’re a drug addict. How do you explain to your parents that you have tested positive, even though you have never smoked or drank? There are still people who think I’m guilty“ said Onana. This is the truth about my ban. @TPTFootballhttps://t.co/4C9OA3ty3r pic.twitter.com/8BqPeGMdm0— Andre Onana (@AndreyOnana) December 30, 2021 And the word was spreading fast, so when Onana went to Belgium one day, he had an unpleasant experience. „People don’t always take the time to be informed. In Belgium, I was stopped by the police. Just normal business. When I showed my ID, an officer recognized me. They checked the whole car. Fully. Then I heard someone say: ’This man uses a lot of drugs’“ said Onana. How to concede a goal and still be the happiest man on the pitch? Onana knows the feelingHowever, soon to be ex Ajax keeper didn’t give up and used his time off football wisely: „Being banned isn’t good, but you discover what really matters in life. It helped me work on other aspects: more time to train, review images, make corrections. When I got back, I stepped on the scale. Shirt off, my teammates said, ” Damn, you didn’t look like that when you left.” And: “If that had happened to me, I would have let myself go.” But when the going gets tough, you have to work even harder“ said Onana.
