Batista banned for two years

Sporting Lisbon goalkeeper Ricardo Batista has been handed a two-year ban after testing positive for a controlled substance.

The former Fulham custodian failed a routine drugs test after a league match between Olhanense, the club he was loaned out to last season, and Academica Coimbra in January.

The Portuguese league’s Disciplinary Commission said the ban was back-dated to April 8, when Batista’s provisional suspension began.

Batista, 24, joined Sporting from Fulham in 2008, but failed to play a first team game.

His only full appearance for the London side was in a League Cup match in 2005 against Lincoln City.

Fulham won 5–4, but Batista’s performance was error-prone and he was soon loaned out to first Milton Keynes Dons and Wycombe Wanderers and never played for Fulham again.

The Portugal Under-21 international, who has a contract with Sporting until the end of the season, can now appeal the ban to the Portuguese Football Federation.