Five Mexico players have tested positive to a banned substance and have been dropped from the squad contesting the Gold Cup, the Mexican football federation said on Thursday.
Decio De Maria, general secretary of the Mexican federation, said he believed the players tested positive by ingesting contaminated food.
The players named by the Mexican federation are goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa, defenders Edgar Duenas and Francisco Rodriguez, and midfielders Christian Bermudez and Antonio Naelson.
"What is presumed ... one had to ingest contaminated materials - meat or chicken. Now comes the tough part, taking the players off the squad and opening an investigation.Meanwhile, it is a disagreeable moment to take this kind of decision, but we have to take responsibility", De Maria said.
The Mexican federation said the five tested positive in pre-Gold Cup doping tests conducted May 21. Officials said the substance detected was the banned anabolic agent clenbuterol.
"Everything points to it being an accident, very unfortunate," De Maria said.
De Maria made reference to Tour de France champion Alberto Contador of Spain, who tested positive last July for clenbuterol and said he consumed the drug in contaminated beef. Mexico was to face Cuba on Thursday in the Gold Cup, the championship of North and Central America and the Caribbean.
Source: AP