Egypt international Ramadan Sobhi has been handed a four-year ban by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) for an anti-doping rule violation, Egypt’s anti-doping authority has confirmed.
Hazem Khamis, head of the Egyptian Anti-Doping Organisation, told reporters that they had “received an official letter confirming Ramadan Sobhi’s four-year suspension in a doping case.” According to the authority, the sanction arises from allegations of doping and sample tampering.
Sobhi, 28, has yet to publicly comment on the decision. However, his lawyer was quoted in local media as saying that an appeal to the Swiss Federal Court is being prepared in a bid to challenge the CAS ruling.
The case escalated after the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) appealed the initial lifting of Sobhi’s provisional suspension, a decision that had briefly cleared the way for him to return to action. Following WADA’s appeal, the matter was referred to CAS, which has now imposed the four-year ban.
Separate Academic Fraud Case
Away from the pitch, Sobhi is also embroiled in a separate legal battle. A Giza criminal court has ordered that he remain in custody pending trial over allegations of academic fraud, including forging documents and allegedly paying another individual to sit examinations on his behalf at a tourism and hotels institute.
Sobhi has denied any wrongdoing in the academic case. The next court hearing has been scheduled for December 30.
Sobhi has 37 caps for the Egyptian national team and has played for Al Ahly, Stoke City and later Huddersfield Town. He returned to Egypt and joined Pyramids FC in 2020, becoming a key figure at the club and helped them clinch their first-ever CAF Champions League title last season.
