Sochaux's Santos scored for Tunisia in the African Nations Cup final

After corticoids traces were found in his urine before Sochaux's Uefa Cup tie against Inter Milan last week, Santos missed Sunday's 2-1 win over Bastia.

Cortocoids, which reduce fatigue, are illegal if given in a certain way.

But they are allowed under prescription if the correct rules on how to give them are followed.

"We were not worried but a few hours before the kick-off of the Uefa Cup game against Inter Milan on Thursday, we learned traces of corticoids had been found in his (Santos's) urine," said Sochaux president Jean-Claude Plessis.

"So we decided not to take any chances and to remove him from the team sheet."

Sochaux are waiting to receive details of a prescription Santos was given by the Tunisian Football Federation when the Brazilian-born striker was injured during the African Cup of Nations.

Santos scored the first goal in Tunisia's 2-1 win over Morocco in the final.

Sochaux had contacted the Tunisian federation to get the prescription for Santos' treatment but were unable to read a fax they received on Friday.

"The Tunisian federation confirmed he had a corticoid treatment carried out in accordance with the rules and that traces of the substance could be found in his body," said Plessis.

The Sochaux president added that Santos, Tunisia team mate Adel Chedli and Morocco's Jawad Zairi had medical check-ups when they returned from the Nations Cup.

Santos has scored 10 goals for Sochaux in Ligue 1 this season.