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Former Italian national team defender, current teammate of Lithuanian Marius Stankevicius, Jonathan Bachini, has been disqualified for nine months for cocaine use.
The 29-year-old defender was handed this punishment by the Discipline Committee of the Italian League. Bachini was caught on September 22 after a 2-0 defeat to the "Lazio" club.
Brescia sports director Gianluca Nani stated that the player's contract will be terminated, following the example of London's "Chelsea," who released cocaine user striker Adrian Mutu.
Bachini, who has represented teams such as "Udinese," "Juventus," "Lecce," and "Parma" during his career and once defended the honor of the Italian national team, claims he did not know he was using cocaine and defended himself by saying that this illegal substance was most likely in a drink offered to him by an unknown man.
It is worth mentioning that after the first blood test came back positive, the Italian requested not to undergo a second test.
Bachini will be able to return to the field in mid-June 2005.
