By Andrew Warshaw
May 26 – Manchester City’s Ivory Coast defender Kolo Toure was banned from all football activities for six months today for failing a drugs test that kept him out of the game for much of the season.
The ban is back-dated to March 2, when Toure’s provisional suspension began.
It means he is free to play from September 2 but will monitored for a period of two years from May 26.
An independent regulatory commission, chaired by Christopher Quinlan QC, could have issued anything from a warning to a two-year ban but took into consideration the circumstances behind Toure’s of water tablets belonging to his wife.
The commission were satisfied Toure did not intend to enhance his performance or mask the use of a performance-enhancing substance.
Toure was tested at the Manchester derby in February, when he was an unused substitute.
The defender was suspended on after his A-sample tested positive for “a specified substance”.
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