Palermo´s Carrozzieri tests positive for cocaine

Palermo defender Moris Carrozzieri has tested positive for cocaine following a Serie A match against Torino on April 5, the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) announced on Thursday.

The 28-year-old is a first team regular at Palermo who currently lie seventh in the Italian top flight.

“This news has surprised us,” the club said in a statement. “We repeat our total committment in the battle against the use of illegal substances which damage the health of people and in particular the young,” club president Maurizio Zamparini told news agency Ansa.

“We have been informed by the CONI and we are stunned to learn that these young people who regularly go to nightclubs can carry out such imbecilic behaviour.

“They are not gaining anything on a sporting level and by contrast are destroying themselves”.

“If it is true, he has taken cocaine, he must admit it. It is important above all to think about one’s health, but it is pathetic that people can fall into these traps,” he added.

“History has proven that these tests are rarely wrong”.

The central defender has previously had spells at Atalanta and Sampdoria and began his career at Bari in 1999.