Matildas defender Aivi Luik is protesting her innocence after revealing she has been banned for three months for a doping violation. Luik believes she has mistakenly been suspended by Italian anti-doping authorities in a charge stemming from her time at Serie A club Pomigliano. Luik, who left the Italian club in 2022 to join Sweden’s BK Hacken, withdrew from Australian selection before the Paris Olympics.
At the time, the 39-year-old’s withdrawal from Matildas contention was blamed on a hamstring injury. In fact, Luik was told by Italian authorities in April she had been banned for three months because of a doping breach. “I still can’t believe I’m in the middle of this and I truly believe a mistake has been made,” Luik wrote on Instagram on Thursday.
“I hope to be able to continue the fight to appeal this ruling and prove my innocence.” The doping charge came after Luik was sent by Pomigliano to a specialist for treatment on a back injury in March 2022. On March 29 that year, a doctor gave her a painkilling injection containing a substance prohibited in competition under the World Anti-Doping Code, essentially meaning it’s banned on match days.
Aivi Luik (centre) with Hayley Raso and Ellie Carpenter during an Australia Matildas open training session at the FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia & New Zealand 2023. (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images) Pomigliano reportedly sought an incorrect exemption certificate from Italy’s anti-doping agency, which the .