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| Andreas Ibertsberger, left, and Christoph Janker of Hoffenheim leave their hearing [GALLO/GETTY] |
Bundesliga club Hoffenheim have been fined $97,000 after two players were late for a doping test and the German football federation (DFB) announced new measures to avoid such delays happening again.
The DFB said it would introduce official doping chaperones from next season so that first and second division players selected for random tests are escorted straight to the doping control room after the final whistle.
Hoffenheim players Andreas Ibertsberger and Christoph Janker had already been cleared of any wrongdoing after they were 10 minutes late for the test after last month's draw with Borussia Moenchengladbach as a club official did not tell them in time.
The DFB fined the club's doping official Peter Geigle $3,242 at a hearing on Monday for failing to tell the players they would be tested immediately after the game.
Hoffenheim had also faced a possible points deduction as Moenchengladbach had appealed the validity of the 1-1 result because of the doping violation but Borussia withdrew the appeal earlier on Monday.
"The sports court of the DFB ... has handed Hoffenheim a fine of ($97,000)," the DFB said in a statement.
Presiding judge Hans Lorenz said this had not been a case of cheating.
"It was more a case of regulation violation going back to a mistake by Hoffenheim's doping official," Lorenz said in the statement.
Both players tested negative.
Just before the hearing the DFB announced the plan to bring in official chaperones. It said it hoped the system would cut down on any possible test result manipulations by having players tested immediatelyafter the match.
"A detailed plan will be pushed through in the next (DFB) session or the one after that," DFB spokesman Harald Stenger said.
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