World Cup: No Positive Doping Tests, Fewer Injuries

There have been no positive doping tests at this year's World Cup till now, football's ruling body FIFA announced Saturday.

FIFA's chief medical officer Jiri Dvorak confirmed that with 62 of 64 matches completed, all doping tests had returned negative while the number of injuries to players had dropped compared to the 2002 World Cup in Japan and Korea.

There were 134 injuries noted in the 60 World Cup matches registered to date, giving an average of 2.2 injuries per match. This compares to 2.4 per game at France 1998 and 2.7 in Japan and South Korea four years ago.

"We have noticed a significant reduction," said Dvorak, who explained the reduction on the zero tolerance being shown by referees in this tournament, especially when it comes to the use of elbows when heading the ball.

As a result, there have been just 11 head injuries registered in Germany compared to 25 four years ago.

Germany take on Portugal in Stuttgart later Saturday to see which team finishes third while Italy take on France for the title Sunday here.

(Source: IANS/DPA)

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Doping Test

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