Crystal Palace’s Mamadou Sakho sues WADA over drug-test error

Crystal Palace defender, Mamadou Sakho, is suing the World Anti-Doping Agency for £13m over claims a drug-test error ended his career with Liverpool.

Crystal Palace defender Mamadou Sakho

Crystal Palace defender, Mamadou Sakho, is suing the World Anti-Doping Agency for £13m over claims a drug-test error ended his career with Liverpool.

According to The Guardian , Mamadou was suspended from football for 30 days in April 2016 after testing positive for a fat-burning substance following a Europa League first-leg tie with Manchester United. That led to the Frenchman missing the Europa League final against Sevilla in Basel and, he has also claimed in a high court hearing, a place in France’s squad for Euro 2016.

Sakho was cleared by Uefa’s disciplinary body after it found higenamine was not on WADA’s prohibited list. The governing body then published a report criticising WADA, suggesting there were doubts among experts about whether higenamine was among a group known as B2-agonists, all of which are banned by Wada.

Sakho never recovered his first-team place at Liverpool and was sold to Palace for £26m in September 2017 following a loan spell at Selhurst Park. He has now decided to take legal action against Wada.