Elvis read this if you think United get special treatment
It has been revealed today that Manchester City’s Kolo Toure failed a drugs test which was taken after the Manchester derby.
In April 2003, Mark Bosnich was banned for 9 months and fined £10k for failing a drugs test.
In December 2003, Rio Ferdinand was banned for 8 months and fined £50k for missing a drugs test.
In November 2004, Adrian Mutu was banned for 7 months and fined £20k for failing a drugs test.
As far as I’m concerned, missing a drugs test should be punished the same as failing. However, the case of Rio Ferdinand is distinctly different from just any old “missed drugs test” story.
Before training, he was told along with two other players that he would be tested for drugs after training. Training ended and Rio flew off to town, where he was pictured shopping. At 2.02pm he remembered the drugs test and called the club to ask could he come back for the test. The testers told him he was too late, however they didn’t leave Carrington until 2.27pm, which would have been enough time to return for the test. UEFA’s website confirmed that Rio had asked to take the test on the same day but was told it was too late. An important point to mention is that drug-test procedures do not have a time limit so there was no reason why the testers couldn’t have waited, given the implications of what him not taking the test were. Rio was tested for drugs at their next convenience, two days later, and that test came back negative.
Before Rio’s ban and fine had been announced, PFA chief Gordon Taylor was confident, like many, that there would be no problem in clearing the defender’s name, after the evidence that Rio’s plea to take the test before the testers have left was rejected.
“If I was representing the FA and they asked me should it go ahead, I would sa