Kolo Touré has said he will help Mamadou Sakho after his Liverpool team-mate tested positive for a banned substance, describing it as a “moment of not thinking right”. The Ivorian defender said players have no excuse as they are made aware of what they can and cannot take but likened them to children who are told not to do things but do them anyway.
Sakho faces a 30-day suspension while Uefa conducts an investigation into a failed drugs test following the Europa League tie with Manchester United, with reports in France suggesting that he had taken a banned fat-reducing substance. Touré, who was banned for six months in March 2011 having taken his wife’s fat-absorbing water tablets, said that Sakho has no choice now but to accept what comes and just “keep his head down and stay positive”.
Touré dismissed suggestions that it can be hard for footballers to be on top of rules governing supplements, medication and potentially banned substances or that the blame can be placed on the demands made of professional players, insisting: “No, no, no. Of course we have time to recover.” However, he does not believe that many players are doping.
“We have all to stick to the rules,” Touré said. “You can’t say that [it’s difficult for players]. We know. Every day, they speak to us, what we have to do. Of course, but still you tell your kids to don’t do things but still they will do it. I say to the boy: ‘C’mon, don’t do that,’ but he is still doing it. Nobody is perfect in life. If you’re not perfect, don’t expect the other guys to be perfect.
“It’s difficult to tell you [how a player can make a mistake like this],” Touré said. “Anything can happen in life. You take your car, you drive your car every day in the same road and one day you just have no concentration – accident. That’s part of life. It can happen to anybody.”
He continued: “It’s a moment of not right thinking and then that happens. [Then] you have to live with it. He won’t be the last one, that’s the thing. Sometimes you think: ‘Oh, everybody knows,’ but he won’t be the last. One will just lose his head or do something and then the case will come back. You try to minimise [the chances] as much as you can but anything can happen. And when you get into that kind of situation you have to make sure you don’t do anything without anybody knowing about it.”
Asked if other players may have taken banned substances and got away with it, Touré replied: “I don’t know, to be honest. I don’t think there are many people who are doing that. At the same time, rules are there, but it’s always tough.
“We all make mistakes. But we learn from it. Only by making [mistakes] you’re learning. I help [Sakho], I help him: I’ve been there. He’s lucky that I’m there to help him. Of course [I have spoken to him], that’s why I’m here. I try to talk to young players, to prevent them from doing the same mistake I did.”
Touré revealed that the advice he has given Sakho was simple and suggested that his own ban his career lasting until now, at the age of 36. He said that he felt like a “22-year-old” and described himself as a “top player” after Liverpool’s Europa League semi-final first leg against Villarreal. “Just stay positive: that’s all he can do now,” Touré said. “Stay positive, just believe in you, keep working hard, put your head down, that’s it. Don’t think about anything. Hard times come and go
“I stayed positive, that’s all you can do. That gives me the strength now. That’s why I keep playing. [For] six months, I was thinking about life [and] I just realised how important football is and it gave me encouragement to work hard and it’s why I’m still in the game. We have tough times but you use that to get back.”
