Ahmed Saad's career is on the outer. Source: Michael Dodge / News Limited
AHMED Saad is unlikely to play football this weekend as he battles to save his career in the wake of a positive drug test.
Saad will not play for St Kilda at the Gabba on Saturday night, and Saints officials have yet to make a decision on his availability for VFL affiliate Sandringham.
St Kilda is concerned about Saad's welfare and state of mind.
The 23-year-old is under investigation for consuming an energy drink before a game earlier this year. Saad is believed to have mixed a supplement with a liquid and later returned a positive A sample for what the AFL Anti-Doping Code terms as a "specified stimulant".
Specified stimulants are only banned on match days.
Saad is allowed to play this weekend under anti-doping rules as he awaits results of his B sample test.
He is contracted for another year at St Kilda, but the Herald Sun has been told that if he receives the maximum two-year ban, the Saints could argue the suspension puts him in breach of his contract, ending his career at the club.
The club could decide to pay out his contract in full next year and drop him from its list.
It's believed Saad took the drink before St Kilda's Round 15 match against Fremantle at Patersons Stadium. Sources close to the forward say he was naive and do not believe he was plotting to cheat the system.
Saad was axed before the Round 13 game against Melbourne.
But he won a recall for the trip to Perth a fortnight later when Stephen Milne was overlooked amid rape allegations, while Nick Riewoldt (knee) and Justin Koschitzke (soreness) also missed the trip. Saad kicked two goals from nine disposals in the Saints' 30-point loss to the Dockers.
Richmond defender Bachar Houli, an AFL multicultural ambassador with Saad, said he would offer his friend support.
"In terms of Ahmed, I haven't spoken to him yet and I won't comment until I've spoken to him," Houli said.
"I'll support him from, I guess, the brother perspective. I've had a lot to do with him. I speak to him probably every two weeks, but I haven't spoken to him since the news has come out."
Houli said Saad's positive test was another example of how vigilant players needed to be when it came to what they consumed.
"I think there's dangers in everything you consume and it's the responsibility of players to consult their doctors and physios and guys in the right areas to see what they're taking," he said.
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