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Manchester City defender Kolo Toure has been suspended after testing positive for a specified substance.
The 29-year-old Ivorian was tested at the Manchester derby last month where he was an unused substitute.
The World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) defines a specified substance as one that is “more susceptible to a credible, non-doping explanation”.
The punishment for this offence ranges from a warning to a two-year ban.
After Toure’s A sample returned positive, City confirmed in a statement that Toure had been suspended “pending the outcome of the legal process”.
A statement on City’s official website read: “Manchester City confirm that the FA has informed Kolo Toure that an ‘A-sample’ provided by him has tested positive for a specified substance.
“As result of this, he has been suspended from participating in all first-team and non-first-team matches pending the outcome of the legal process.
“There will be no further comment from the football club at this stage.”
Suspension
And on Thursday evening a FA statement read: “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.”
Official FA doping control regulations state: “The definition of Specified Substances now allows for the exercising of greater discretion in disciplinary cases.
“This affords a Regulatory Commission the opportunity to impose a shorter suspension where an offence relates to a Specified Substance.
“If the substance is a Specified Substance the decision as to whether to impose a provisional suspension will be at the discretion of The Football Association.”
Hamilton midfielder Simon Mensing recently served a four-week ban after he tested positive for a ‘specified substance’.
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 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.
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