Kolo Toure could see his ban for a failed drugs test increased after it emerged that sporting watchdogs were going to revise the sanction to decide whether The Football Association were too lenient.
Toure, the Manchester City defender, was banned after testing positive for using a banned diuretic in February.
Testing positive for any illegal substance can carry a two-year suspension and many within the game were bemused when The FA-appointed panel awarded only a six-month ban last month which, back-dated to March, could see him play as early as September.
Similarities were instantly drawn to the treatment of Rio Ferdinand, the Manchester United and England defender, who was banned for eight-months for missing a drugs test in 2003.
It would appear that this kind of inconsistency is where the sticking point is.
Ferdinand, although not completely innocent, merely missed a drugs test. It would be naive and misguided to make a judgement on whether there was any sinister motive for missing the drugs test but miss it he did. Toure, on the other hand, actually failed a drugs test.
At the time it was felt that eight-months was lenient and that Ferdinand was lucky to escape with such a minimal ban. How times and opinions have changed.
Of the two, Ferdinand lost the most and not just because his ban was more severe than Toure's. The eight-month ban actually meant that he missed an entire season and would not be eligible to play for England at the 2004 European Championships.
There are, of course, conspiracy theories that will not relent until a review of Toure's ban is undertaken. Many feel that David Bernstein, The FA chairman and former Manchester City chairman, has had something to do with the sympathetic ruling handed to Toure.
Stories like these will always persist but it may be worth pointing out that Bernstein played an active part in the three-game suspension handed to Wayne Rooney for the Manchester United striker's foul-mouthed rant at a television camera after scoring a hat-trick against West Ham United.
For the balance, it should be noted that The FA have not been quite so quick to hand out similar punishment to Mario Balotelli and Micah Richards who were guilty of the same act following their FA Cup final win over Stoke City. They both play for Manchester City.
Both the UK Anti Doping and the World Anti Doping Authority are believed to be weighing up their power to appeal any sentence that they feel is inadequate.
You get the feeling that they may see it as inadequate - the ban, not The FA.
No comments:
Post a Comment