Hayel was reportedly made to drink "several litres" of water in a short space of time after he was unable to produce a urine sample following Monday's (January 12) match with Iraq owing to dehydration.

This caused him to vomit, he felt dizzy and he had developed hypothermia, according to the Jordanian FA, and the test was then cancelled.

"Ahmad Hayel arrived at the hotel after the doping test [in a] semi-coma, and with hypothermia," said the organisation's general secretary Fadi Zureikatt.

"The doping control room was too cold.

"The player was given water to drink for four hours [only water without any liquids containing salts or electrolytes].

"Ahmad Hayel began vomiting [and received] no medical care presence from the AFC, no ambulance was called for the player, he was suffering low blood pressure, and we had to take the player back to the hotel by private car, in a wheelchair, while he was unconscious."

Jordan lost their Asian Cup opener against Iraq ©AFP/Getty Images



However, claims of a bungled test have been refuted by the AFC, who said in a statement on their website that the doping test was "conducted as per the AFC Anti-Doping Regulations".

"As per the procedure, the AFC Medical Officer always recommends players selected for doping control to drink water as per normal practice, especially for the player who has played for 90 minutes," AFC Medical Officer, Dr. Paisal Chantarapitak, said.

"It is at the player's discretion to follow the recommendation or not, the player is not forced to drink plenty of water in short time.

"The assistant team doctor of Jordan national team was present during the entire doping procedure."

Meanwhile on the pitch, China came from behind to beat Uzbekistan in Brisbane thanks to goals from Wu Xi and substitute Sun Ke to book their place in the quarter-finals.

Substitute Sun Ke came off the bench and bagged the winning goal as China came from behind to beat Uzbekistan ©Getty Images



Uzbekistan, who are considered by many as dark horses to win the competition, took the lead after 22 minutes through a deflected Odil Ahmedov effort, but China fought back and restored parity 10 minutes into the second half.

Gao Lin flicked the ball into the path of Wu, who arrowed a fierce strike into the bottom corner, and shortly after China had turned the match on its head as Sun curled home from the edge of the area.

In the other match in Group B, a double from Mohammed Al Sahlawi helped Saudi Arabia recover from their opening defeat as they cruised to a 4-1 victory over North Korea.

However they also had to come from behind as Ryang Yong-Gi gave the underdogs an early lead after 11 minutes before Naif Hazazi levelled proceedings just after the half hour mark.

Al Sahlawi then netted a brace in the space of two second half minutes to give the three-time winners a comfortable advantage, and Nawaf Al Abid added a fourth late on to complete a dominant performance.

In tomorrow's Group C encounters, Bahrain entertain the United Arab Emirates and Iran face Qatar.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


Related stories
January 2015: Australia book place in Asian Cup quarter-finals with stylish win over Oman
January 2015: Palestine's historic Asian Cup debut ends in defeat to holders Japan
January 2015: Iran get Asian Cup campaign underway with victory
January 2015: Saudi Arabia's quest for fourth Asian Cup crown starts with defeat
January 2015: Hosts Australia make winning start at Asian Cup