June 8 (Reuters) - Bolivia international Boris Cespedes has had his suspension for a doping violation reduced from two years to 15 months after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) partially upheld his appeal against a FIFA ruling, CAS said on Monday.
Cespedes, who has played for Swiss club Yverdon-Sport and the Bolivia national team, tested positive for acetazolamide — a banned diuretic and masking agent — following an in-competition doping control after Bolivia’s World Cup qualifier against Uruguay on March 25, 2025, played at high altitude in El Alto.
FIFA’s disciplinary committee imposed a two-year ban on the player in August 2025, with credit given for a provisional suspension served since May 14, 2025.
The player appealed to CAS, arguing the substance had entered his system through medication prescribed by national team medical staff to treat altitude sickness while he was severely ill and unable to verify what he had been given.
Following a hearing in January, a sole CAS arbitrator found that although Cespedes had committed an anti-doping rule violation, he had established, on the balance of probability, that the substance likely originated from prescribed medication.
"Consequently, the Sole Arbitrator determined that a period of ineligibility of 15 months is proportionate and appropriate to the circumstances of this case," the release said.
"The appeal is partially upheld and the sanction against Mr Cespedes is amended, with a deduction for the provisional suspension served since 14 May 2025."
(Reporting by Karan Prashant Saxena in Bengaluru, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
