Kolo Toure Archives - TalkAfrique

June 10, 2011

Man City Doctor Denies Asking Kolo Toure to Take Tablets

Manchester City doctor Jamie Butler has been cleared of blame over Kolo Toure’s six-month ban for failing a drugs test.

The 30-year-old defender was banned in May for using his wife’s diet tablets.

Toure had claimed City’s club doctor authorised him to take the pills – but a Football Association report disagreed.

It stated: “[Butler] never told him it was safe to use water tablets [and] he would unequivocally have said they were prohibited and should not be used.”

He has become obsessed with his weight and more particularly the appearance of his belly

FA report

The Ivory Coast international said he had been given the tablets by his wife and that he had shown Dr Butler the substance before taking it.

However Butler refuted this claim and the FA report added: “It was not suggested that Dr Butler was shown the medicine bottle with ‘water tablets x21’ at any stage.”

The documents added that Toure had regular issues with his weight, which led him to take slimming tablets.

“The context is that for some years KT [Kolo Toure] has had a problem controlling his weight.

“He has become obsessed with his weight and more particularly the appearance of his belly.”

Toure’s ban is backdated to 2 March, when his provisional suspension began.

He will be free to play for City from 2 September but is subject to a two-year period of target-testing that began on 26 May.

May 26, 2011

Ivory Coast’s Kolo Toure Handed Six-month ban for Failed Drugs Test

Manchester City defender Kolo Toure will miss the start of next season after being handed a six-month ban from all football for failing a drugs test.

The ban is back-dated to 2 March, when Toure’s provisional suspension began.

He is free to play from 2 September, but will also be target-tested for a period of two years from 26 May.

“This has been a difficult period, and I am sad to have missed the team’s triumph of securing Champions League football and the FA Cup,” Toure said.

“But I am relieved that I will be able to return to football in September and thank the FA’s commission for their understanding.”

An independent regulatory commission, which could have issued anything from a warning to a two-year ban by way of punishment, reached the verdict after a hearing on Thursday.

Toure admitted the offence – his first – contrary to Regulation 3 of the FA Doping Regulations 2010-11. But the panel took into consideration the circumstances behind his use of water tablets belonging to his wife.

On 4 March, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger – who brought Toure to England by signing him – revealed: “He wants to control his weight a little bit because that’s where he has some problems and he took the product of his wife.

“He is a boy that has a clean life, a very honest living. I just think it is a mistake.”

Headed up by Christopher Quinlan QC, the commission were satisfied Toure did not intend to enhance sporting performance or to mask the use of a performance-enhancing substance.

But the ruling means he cannot participate in any football match or any other football-related activity other than anti-doping education or rehabilitation programmes, until his ban expires.

The decision completes a nightmare season for Toure, which began with him losing the Manchester City captaincy to Carlos Tevez on 18 August.

Toure was tested at the Manchester derby in February, when he was an unused substitute. The Ivory Coast defender was suspended on 3 March after his A-sample tested positive for “a specified substance”.

Toure is under contract with City until the summer of 2013. He was one of several high-profile arrivals in the summer of 2009 as then-manager Mark Hughes spent more than £100m on new players.

March 4, 2011March 4, 2011

Ivory Coast Toure took Wife’s Diet Pill, Not Drugs, Arsenal’s Wenger

Manchester City defender Kolo Toure failed a drugs test after taking a diet pill belonging to his wife, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said in a press conference on Friday.

Wenger has spoken with the former Gunners captain since news broke of his positive test for a specified substance.

“He wants to control his weight a little bit because that’s where he has some problems and he took the product of his wife,” said Wenger.

Toure could face a lengthy ban and is currently suspended from playing for City. The 29-year-old moved to Eastlands in 2009 having spent seven seasons at Arsenal, and Wenger spoke of his character in glowing terms and insisted Toure’s error was failing to check the legality of the product he took.

“I think it is a mistake. He was not cautious enough. I don’t think there’s a desire there to do something wrong and hide it,” added Wenger.

“It is a complete surprise because I had Kolo Toure here for years, I brought him here. He is a boy who has a clean life. He’s very honest living, always at home, a family man, and I don’t suspect him at all to have taken drugs to enhance his performances. I just think it is a mistake by forgetting to ask, ‘Can I take that?’.”

In line with Football Association regulations, Toure has been suspended following confirmation that a “specified substance” was found in an A sample, believed to have been given after last month’s derby at Old Trafford.

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March 3, 2011March 4, 2011

Ivory Coast and Manchester City Kolo Toure Fails Drug Test

Manchester City defender Kolo Toure has been suspended after testing positive for a specified substance.

The 29-year-old was informed by the Football Association that an A sample he provided had returned positive.

City confirmed in a statement that Toure had been suspended “pending the outcome of the legal process”.

Ivory Coast international Toure, whose brother Yaya also plays for City, is a former club captain who joined City from Arsenal in July 2009.

The defender has gone on to make more than 50 appearances for City, although he was not involved in Wednesday’s FA Cup victory over Aston Villa.

The failed test automatically triggered the suspension and it is understood that Toure was left out of the squad because the club had been made aware of the situation.

The City statement added: “There will be no further comment from the football club at this stage.”

And on Thursday evening an FA statement said: “The FA can confirm that a player has been provisionally suspended from playing pending investigation, having tested positive for the use of a prohibited substance.”

The World Anti-Doping Agency defines a specified substance as one that is “more susceptible to a credible, non-doping explanation”.

The Wada punishment for such a positive test ranges from a warning to a two-year ban.

Hamilton Academicals midfielder Simon Mensing recently served a four-week ban after a specified substance was detected in his system.

The 28-year-old tested positive for the stimulant methylhexaneamine at the end of January and subsequently missed five matches after a period of ineligibility was imposed on him.

The player maintained he was unaware he had ingested the substance while using a dietary supplement – an explanation which was accepted by UK Anti-Doping.

Toure was the skipper of City until the start of the current campaign, when the armband was passed to Carlos Tevez.

The Ivorian defender was brought to the Premier League by Arsenal in 2002 and he remained with the London club until his £14m transfer to City.

Toure, who is under contract with City until the summer of 2013, was one of several high-profile arrivals in the summer of 2009 as then-manager Mark Hughes spent more than £100m on new players.

City are currently pursuing trophies on three fronts. They will play Reading in the quarter-final of the FA Cup, are set to take on Dynamo Kiev in the Europa League and lie third in the Premier League, 10 points behind leaders Manchester United.

(Story from BBC Sports)

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