Mamadou Sakho Sues WADA Over Drug Test Error

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

The defender, now at Crystal Palace, 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 meant the Frenchman missed 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 the substance in question – higenamine – was not on Wada’s prohibited list. The governing body then published a report that was hugely critical of 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, and pointed out that Wada’s laboratories do not routinely test for the substance.

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. The 29-year-old has now decided to take legal action against Wada, with his lawyers arguing £13m represents the loss of earning and personal worth Sakho has suffered as a result of leaving Anfield.