Liverpool’s Sakho to discover fate over UEFA drugs ban

Matt Stead

Liverpool defender Mamadou Sakho will discover in early July if he will be hit by a ban for his failed drugs test.

Sakho was found to have violated UEFA drug laws after he gave a sample following his side’s 1-1 draw with Manchester United in the Europa League on March 17.

UEFA initially hit him with a 30-day suspension after he asked not for his B sample to be tested and he was not picked for Liverpool after the news emerge don April 23. It cost the centre-back an appearance in the Europa League finals and cost him his place at Euro 2016 after he admitted taking a fat-burning substance.

His 30-day ban concluded without further suspension as UEFA acknowledged further research was required to establish if the pill did in fact contain substances that should be branded illegal and now a disciplinary hearing has been scheduled for two weeks’ time.

UEFA must decide if Sakho, who is expected to report back to training at Melwood on July 2, did violate doping regulations, before assessing if further action is necessary.

Liverpool have not made a comment on the player’s situation, while his legal team have claimed the substance taken was not one that should be considered prohibited.

Manager Jurgen Klopp said in April that Liverpool would have to play the waiting game regarding Sakho’s future.

“At this moment there is really nothing else to say,” he said.

“I think what they are all doing now is collecting information to clear the situation as much as possible.

“Then we have to wait for the next steps. It is not that we could do anything or we could not force anything, we have to wait.

“Until now we did what we thought was right, there is nothing else to say.”