Mamic: Dinamo will fight for suspended midfielder Ademi

Dinamo Zagreb have vowed to appeal Arijan Ademi’s doping suspension, with coach Zoran Mamic determined to fight UEFA’s ruling.

Croatian-born Macedonia international midfielder Ademi received a four-year ban after testing positive for a banned substance following Dinamo’s 2-1 Champions League victory over Arsenal in September.

Ademi has pleaded his innocence throughout the process despite returning two positive samples, while Dinamo expressed their shock at the lengthy suspension.

And Mamic also had his say, labelling UEFA’s decision as “stupidity”.

“Ademi and experts proved his supplement was infected with prohibited substance and he didn’t know what kind of supplement he was using. That is why I can’t understand this decision made by UEFA,” he said via the club’s official website.

“We should all be very careful because there are strict rules about doping in football, but four-year suspension is stupidity. How would UEFA punish Arsenal, Bayern, Manchester or some other big club? This is humiliation of all of us. 

“We will make a complaint about this decision and we are all shocked. We will fight for him and for his case because Ademi is a brilliant young guy, player and a vice-captain. We want to protect him, protect the club and Croatian football in general, because this is a huge stain for all of us.”