Wales appeal over Titov's failed drugs test

Gordon Tynan
Tuesday 27 January 2004 01:00 GMT
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Wales are hoping to secure a place at Euro 2004 after lodging a protest with Uefa, the European governing body, in the wake of the Russian international Igor Titov's positive drugs test.

Titov tested positive for bromantan following the first leg of their Euro 2004 play-off against Wales in November. The game in Moscow ended 0-0 with the Russians claiming a place in Portugal courtesy of their 1-0 win in Cardiff. But the Football Association of Wales believes it could be awarded a 3-0 win in the first match - the standard score for a walkover - if Uefa finds in its favour, and thus secure a 3-1 aggregate win.

Uefa has already stated that the FAW is unlikely to succeed, and the Welsh body's chief executive, David Collins, said: "There's a lot of legal process to go through. Our fans fully appreciate that and are not counting chickens just yet."

Relations between the Welsh and the Russians were already strained after the latter attempted unsuccessfully to ensure that Ryan Giggs was banned for the second leg for elbowing Vadim Evseev in the first match.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in