Peru captain Guerrero has contract suspended by Flamengo

Peru's football team captain Paolo Guerrero has had his contract suspended by his club Flamengo until he returns from a doping ban.

Flamengo Vice President Flavio Willeman on Sunday said Guerrero had accepted the club's decision not to pay the 33-year-old while he is ineligible to play, reports Xinhua news agency.

"We are only adhering to his contract," Director Flavio Willeman told Flamengo fan blog Ser Flamengo.

"It's also stated in (Brazil's) legislation that if a contract is suspended (a player) won't get paid. He took the decision very well because it's fair."

Guerrero was last month given a 12-month ban for testing positive to cocaine metabolite benzoylecgonine after Peru's World Cup qualifier against Argentina in Buenos Aires on October 5.

The penalty, backdated to November, was halved by FIFA's appeal committee less than two weeks later.

He is due to return on May 3, just six weeks before Peru's first World Cup appearance since 1982.

But Guerrero's lawyers are taking the case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in an effort to have the suspension annulled.

The former Bayern Munich player has denied using cocaine or drinking coca tea, claiming he was a victim of food or drink contamination.

--IANS

pur/dg