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Sakho asked to be suspended

Cape Town - According to UEFA's chief medical officer Marc Vouillamoz, Mamadou Sakho was suspended at his own request after testing positive for a banned substance.

The Liverpool defender failed a doping test after the Reds Europa League round of 16 second leg victory over Manchester United back in March.

The news emerged in late-April and the French defender was subsequently suspended by Liverpool before being handed a further 30-day ban by UEFA to investigate the matter.

A month later, European football's governing body confirmed that they would not be extending the provisional suspension and as a result, Sakho has been eligible to play since the end of May.

However, Vouillamoz has now revealed Sakho asked UEFA to suspend him when the news first came out.

"Some substances cause an automatic suspension, others not. And in this case, the player wished to be suspended temporarily, of his own will, and UEFA acceded to his request," he told L'Equipe.

"Now the player has the opportunity to speak, and once the player has given his opinion, the commission will look very quickly on the case."

Sakho missed Liverpool's last eight league games of the campaign due to the ban and will also not be competing in the European Championships this summer, having been omitted from France's squad.

If found guilty of any wrong doing, Sakho faces a ban of up to four years. The same punishment administered to Dinamo Zagreb midfielder Arijan Ademi in November last year after he tested positive for a performance-enhancing substance in a Champions League victory against Arsenal.

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