ENGLISH FA PREMIERSHIP: UEFA will meet on February 3rd to consider an appeal by Wales over their Euro 2004 play-off defeat following Russian midfielder Yegor Titov's positive drugs test.
Titov has been suspended from all competitive matches for a year after testing positive for the banned stimulant bromantan following the goalless first leg of the play-off between the two countries in November.
The 27-year-old was an unused substitute in Moscow but played in the second leg in Cardiff, which Russia won 1-0.
Wales have asked UEFA to overturn the result and hand them a retroactive 3-0 win that would give them a place at the tournament in Portugal in June.
"UEFA's Control and Disciplinary Body will meet on February 3rd to deal with an appeal by the Football Association of Wales against its UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying play-off defeat by Russia, following the positive doping test by Russia's Yegor Titov," UEFA said in a statement on its website yesterday.
Titov was also fined €6,400 and his club Spartak Moscow have been fined €12,800. The Russian premier league club have said they will appeal against the ban. A date has not yet been set for the hearing.
Titov had appealed against the length of his ban, not against the failed test, meaning his appeal will not affect Wales' bid to win a place at Euro 2004. When the player failed the test in November, he did not ask for a second sample to be tested.
A UEFA spokesman explained: "There was no B sample tested, he is not denying that there was a substance in the A test.
"His appeal is only over the length of the ban, which means he accepts his guilt, and that means his appeal does not impact on the one from the FA of Wales."
Titov has insisted he did not knowingly take the drug and Spartak doctor Artyom Katulin has since been sacked by the club.
On the eve of the first leg with Wales, Katulin prescribed Remontadin to the 27-year-old Spartak captain to help fight flu.
Spartak officials believe the medication may have contained traces of bromantan, although Remontadin is not known to contain the substance.
Titov said: "At Spartak everything has always been done on trust. If the club doctor gives a player medicine he takes full responsibility for it.
"I never expected a blow like this. Everyone knows that Spartak have always been opposed to the use of performance-enhancing drugs."
He added: "Maybe we only have ourselves to blame. But I want to assure everyone that I have never done anything to damage Spartak.
"And I have definitely never used any performance-enhancing drugs. That would go against my principles as a person and a sportsman."
Bromantan is a drug developed by the Russian army to help soldiers fight fatigue. It came to light during the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta with five athletes from the former Soviet Union testing positive. Wales boss Mark Hughes insists that the drug could have helped Titov in the second leg after the midfielder played 59 minutes in Cardiff.
