LONDON — Manchester City defender Kolo Toure failed a drug test after taking his wife’s diet pill, Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger said Friday.
Wenger, who brought Toure to the English Premier League (EPL), said he had spoken to his former captain after he was suspended by Manchester City when it learned he tested positive for a “specified substance.”
“He wants to control his weight a little bit because that’s where he has some problems and he took the product off his wife,” the Frenchman told a news conference.
The Football Association informed City of the Ivory Coast international’s failed “A-sample,” with the case now the subject of a legal process.
Toure was set to miss, at least, Saturday evening’s EPL match against Wigan.
Sources earlier said the 29-year-old tested positive after the clash with city rival Manchester United on Feb. 12 for a substance contained in a dietary supplement at Eastlands.
The World Anti-Doping Agency defines a specified substance as one that is “more susceptible to a credible, non-doping explanation.” The WADA punishment for such a positive test ranges from a warning to a two-year ban.
Wenger signed Toure from Ivorian club Mimosas in 2002 and he went on to make 326 appearances in seven seasons with the Gunners before switching to City in 2009.
The Arsenal boss paid tribute to his character, insisting there was no malicious intent on his part.
“I think it is a mistake,” he added. “He was not cautious enough. I don’t think there’s a desire there to do something wrong and hide it. He is a boy who has a clean life. He’s very honest living, always at home, a family man, and I don’t suspect him at all to have taken drugs to enhance his performances.”
He added, “I just think it is a mistake by forgetting to ask, ‘Can I take that?’.”
