Egypt's Sobhi handed four-year doping ban, anti-doping body says

Egypt international Ramadan Sobhi, who helped Pyramids win their first CAF Champions League title last season and previously played in the English Premier League, has been banned for four years by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) for an anti-doping rule violation, Egypt's anti-doping authority said on Wednesday.

"We have received an official letter confirming Ramadan Sobhi's four-year suspension in a doping case," Hazem Khamis, head of the Egyptian Anti-Doping Organisation, told reporters.

Sobhi's suspension stems from allegations of doping and sample tampering, the body said.

Sobhi has not yet commented on the sanction. His lawyer was quoted by local media saying that an appeal to the Swiss Federal Court was being prepared.

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) appealed the initial lifting of Sobhi's provisional suspension, which had briefly allowed him to return to play, before the case was referred to CAS.

The 28-year-old remains in custody in a separate case. A Giza criminal court has ordered his detention pending trial over allegations of academic fraud, including forging documents and paying someone to sit exams on his behalf at a tourism and hotels institute. Sobhi has denied wrongdoing and the next hearing is scheduled for December 30.

Sobhi, who has played 37 times for Egypt, began his career at Al-Ahly before moving to England in 2016, where he played for Stoke City and Huddersfield Town.

He joined Pyramids in 2020 and played a key role in their continental triumph last term.

(Reporting Ashraf Hamed AttaEditing by Toby Davis)