The captains of the three countries set to play Peru at the World Cup have co-signed a letter urging FIFA to find a way for team captain Paolo Guerrero currently under a doping suspension to play at next month’s World cup 2018.
Guerrero tested positive for a banned stimulant after Peru’s World Cup qualifier against Argentina in October and was initially suspended by FIFA for 12 months.
Guerrero is now in Zurich to meet with FIFA President Gianni Infantino on Tuesday. Still, it is unclear what soccer’s governing body can do to change a ban which was imposed last week by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, and could be reviewed by Switzerland’s supreme court.
In the letter to FIFA, the France, Denmark and Australia captains asked the FIFA Council to “show compassion” and said it would be “plainly wrong” to exclude Guerrero on the basis of the findings that the Peru captain did not intend to cheat and that the substance was not performance-enhancing.