Coni prosecutor asks for Cannavaro let off

Italy captain Fabio Cannavaro looks set to be let off his failed dope test after the Italian Olympic Committee’s (Coni) anti-doping prosecutor asked for the case against the Juventus star to be dismissed.

Cannavaro failed a dope test on August 29 after he had been given a medication containing the banned substance cortisone by Juve doctors following a wasp sting that resulted in his arm swelling up.

But Coni’s anti-doping prosecutor Ettore Torri on Saturday asked the National Anti-doping Tribunal to shelve the case against the former world player of the year while reserving the right to investigate others within the club.

Following his injection, Juventus had requested that Cannavaro be given an exemption on the grounds of having taken a medication in the case of an emergency but his request was missing a document and while awaiting a decision he was subjected to the test he subsequently failed.

But Torri not only ruled out guilt on his part but also negligence in the failure to submit the right documentation on time.

Cannavaro released a statement expressing his feeling of vindication.

“I’m happy that the prosecutor has asked for the dismissal of my case, taking into account my good faith and correct behaviour,” he said.

“I never had any doubt that this would happen and I’m disappointed that such an event as this caused so much of an uproar.”

The Italian Football Federation (Figc) had claimed they were immediately made aware of the situation as Juventus had sent a copy of the exemption request to their doctor just before Cannavaro joined up with the national team ahead of matches against Georgia and Bulgaria on September 5 and 9.

When the news broke on Thursday about the failed test, Juventus insisted the player himself had done nothing wrong.

“In response to the news relating to an inquest opened by the anti-doping prosecutor into Fabio Cannavaro, Juventus’s medical team underlines that it acted within sanitary prescriptions and moral rules to intervene in a case of emergency following the worsening of the clinical situation as a consequence of an insect sting,” said a statement on Juventus’s website.

“In such an occasion a vital medical therapy was given to prevent potential complications, even fatal ones.”

Cannavaro is suspended for Italy’s clash against Ireland in Dublin on Saturday night but was expected to return to the team he captained to World Cup glory in 2006 for their final World Cup qualifier against Cyprus on Wednesday.