Serie A star and Benevento captain Fabio Lucioni facing potential four-year suspension after failing a drugs test following defeat at Torino
SERIE A star Fabio Lucioni has been banned after failing a drugs test.
The 29-year-old Benevento captain is facing a suspension between one and four years after testing positive for a banned substance.
Italy's anti-doping authorities caught him out earlier this month to leave his career in tatters.
He failed the test after his side's 1-0 league defeat to Torino on September 10.
Anabolic steroid clostebol was detected in the centre-half's sample.
The National Anti-Doping Organisation of Italy confirmed the news in a statement released on Friday.
Lucioni has been at newly-promoted Benevento since 2014.
But his future there remains unclear after this bombshell.
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And should he be hit with the maximum punishment, then he seems unlikely to play for them again.
He has appeared in their opening five matches of the season.
However, it has been a miserable start to life in the top-flight for him and his team-mates.
Benevento have lost all of their games, conceding 14 times and scoring just once, and currently sit bottom of the table.
And this latest blow will do nothing to lighten the mood at the club.
They will be hoping to pick up their first points of the season when they travel to second bottom side Crotone on Sunday.
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