Higuita tests positive for cocaine

Colombia's eccentric former international goalkeeper Rene Higuita has been banned for six matches after testing positive for cocaine, the Colombian football league (Dimayor) said on Thursday.

The 36-year-old, famous for nonchalantly dribbling past opponents in front of his own goal, began a fresh comeback attempt with provincial club Pereira against Deportivo Cali on September 1 and tested positive in the same game, the Dimayor said.

It was his first match for more than a year after being sacked by Barranquilla-based club Atletico Junior for repeatedly missing training.

Higuita, who has given some impressive performances since for relegation-threatened Pereira, said he was innocent.

"Sportingly, I'm 100 per cent innocent," he told the Dimayor's disciplinary commission.

Pereira president Ramon Rios said he was confident Higuita could prove his innocence.

"We believe it could be a cocaine derivative which was contained in some medicine. It doesn't necessarily mean he has consumed (cocaine)," said Rios.

Higuita, who has made several attempts to resurrect his career, is possibly best remembered for his astonishing "scorpion" kick save in a friendly against England at Wembley.

Instead of simply catching a looping shot, he dived forwards and cleared it with his heels.

In another famous incident, he lost the ball when attempting to dribble past Cameroon's Roger Milla, who went on to score the winning goal in a World Cup second round match in 1990.

Higuita's international career virtually ended in 1993 when he spent more than six months in jail on charges of breaking Colombia's anti-kidnapping laws by attempting to negotiate the release of a kidnap victim.

The charges were later dropped but Higuita missed the 1994 World Cup in the United States.

Although he returned for the 1995 Copa America, he was kept out of the team by the more orthodox Farid Mondragon and later Oscar Cordoba.