Why Senegal's Keita Balde is banned from the Qatar World Cup

Competing in such a tournament should be the pinnacle of any player's career, but Senegal's Keita Balde is set to miss that chance this time.

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The forward was born in Spain but committed his international future to Senegal very early on and he was part of the team that lifted the Africa Cup of Nations title earlier this year.

But the former Lazio man isn't going to be in Qatar because of a specific rule breach.

Why will Keita Balde miss the World Cup?

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Players from all clubs are regularly tested for drugs, and while playing for Cagliari last season, the 27-year-old was summoned for a routine test.

He then moved to Russia in the summer to join Spartak Moscow, and after making his debut in September, the Italian Anti-Doping Organisation unveiled their conclusion.

They revealed the player had returned a negative result but had broken protocol.

A statement on the Spartak Moscow website read: "A sample taken from Keita that day found no banned substances.

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"However, in accordance with the disciplinary code, any doping-related sanction imposed by another national or international sports association, national anti-doping organisation, is automatically accepted by FIFA and must be recognised by all confederations and associations."

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The punishment for being found to have breached anti-doping protocol is a 90-day ban from all football.

Balde's ban came into force on September 17 and is due to expire on December 5 - after the conclusion of the World Cup group stages.

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But he can return to training 22 days before his ban expires.

Therefore, Balde is set to miss out on what would have been a second World Cup.

The good thing for him is that he is only 27 and should get at least one more chance to feature in one of FIFA's showpiece events.