GettyImagesBrazil-born Deco ended his career last year after a three-year stint with Fluminense.SAO PAULO -- Former Portugal international Deco said Thursday he may file a lawsuit against WADA and the Brazilian laboratory that said he tested positive for doping last year.
Deco, who retired from the game last August, was cleared of doping by the Court of Arbitration for Sport this week and his one-year ban imposed last September was annulled by FIFA and the Brazilian football federation.
The doping tests that led to his conviction were conducted by Rio de Janeiro laboratory Ladetec, which lost its accreditation by the World Anti-Doping Agency and has since been suspended from World Cup testing.
"If there was a mistake, both WADA and Ladetec are responsible for it," the Brazilian-born player said in a statement on Thursday, noting that the laboratory was still accredited by the anti-doping agency when he was tested.
Deco said the doping conviction "may have helped anticipate" the end of his career. He was initially suspended one month by Brazil's sports tribunal in early 2013, but in a second trial last September, after he had retired, the player was banned for a year.
"I lost contracts, I lost a lot of things. This can't happen because of a mistake," Deco said. "I was significantly affected by this. I will talk to my lawyers and we will decide what we will do."
The 36-year-old Deco allegedly tested positive for two banned substances after playing in a Rio state championship match for Fluminense. His samples were re-tested in Switzerland and CAS said in its ruling on Tuesday that "it could not be established" that the player committed any anti-doping rule violation.
"It just proved what I already knew," Deco said. "I knew exactly what I did my entire career. I never used anything that was prohibited. I knew that it was either a mistake by the pharmacy that produced the vitamins that I took or a mistake in the analysis of the urine."
The lab said that Deco's samples contained hydrochlorothiazide, a diuretic which can mask the presence of other drugs, and tamoxifen, which can help players cope with the side effects of using steroids.
Because of the problems with Ladetec, FIFA will have to fly doping samples to Switzerland for testing during next month's World Cup.
The lab's role for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro remains uncertain. It was previously cited for reporting a false positive for a volleyball player.
Deco played for Portugal at the 2006 and 2010 World Cups, and for Barcelona, Chelsea and Porto.
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Wenger signs new Arsenal deal
Arsene Wenger has signed a new three-year contract that will see him remain in charge of Arsenal until 2017.
Arsenal ended their nine-year trophy drought with a dramatic 3-2 extra-time win over Hull City in the FA Cup final earlier this month.
And Wenger, whose previous deal was due to expire in June, has agreed fresh terms that will take him beyond 20 years’ service with the Premier League club.
Wenger told the club’s official website: “I want to stay and to continue to develop the team and the club. We are entering a very exciting period. We have a strong squad, financial stability and huge support around the world.
“We are all determined to bring more success to this club.
“The club has always shown faith in me and I’m very grateful for that. We have gone through fantastic periods and also periods where we have had to stick together.
“Every time when that togetherness was tested I got the right response. I think I have shown some loyalty as well towards this club and hopefully we can make some more history. I am sure we can.”
Wenger, 64, took over at Arsenal in August 1996 and has won three Premier League titles and five FA Cups in his time in London.
The success against Hull at Wembley ended a long wait for silverware, with Wenger’s future having been regularly questioned previously due to a lack of trophies.
Arsenal have qualified for the UEFA Champions League in each of the last 17 seasons but have failed to win the league since 2004.
They made the early running in the title race last season but ended up in a battle just to claim fourth spot.
Heavy away defeats against fellow high-flyers Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City and Everton put paid to their ambitions, but Wenger has retained the confidence of the club’s board of directors.
It remains to be seen whether he will now break the club’s tradition of spending relatively modestly in the transfer market, an approach that has been criticised by sections of Arsenal’s supporters.
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