Yaya Toure has defended his brother and Manchester City team-mate Kolo after he failed a drugs test.
Midfielder sticks up for his brother after doping incident
Yaya Toure has defended his brother and Manchester City team-mate Kolo after he failed a drugs test.
Toure, a former Arsenal defender, has been suspended from playing until a hearing into his case is held by the Football Association, and faces anything up to a two-year ban unless he can come up with some mitigation for testing positive for a 'specified substance'.
The 29-year-old Ivorian, who departed the Gunners for Eastlands in 2009, believes the substance found in his system came from a stimulant contained in one of his wife's slimming tablets.
Defending his brother and fellow City star, Yaya Toure said in
The Sun: "Kolo is a sane person - he did not use any substance that was illegal."
Damaged
He added: "My brother is damaged. And the squad is affected because Kolo is an important man for us and one of our captains. So we want a quick solution to this problem.
"We all have confidence in Kolo. I am at Manchester City due to the insistence of my brother. For me it will be very hard to play without him in the team."
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has already defended his former Gunners captain, stressing his belief that Kolo Toure would not set out to cheat by doping and explaining the failed test by suggesting the defender 'was not cautious enough'.
Frenchman Wenger also revealed he would be willing to act as a character witness for Toure should it be required.
"Yes," said Wenger, when asked whether he would speak up on the defender's behalf.
"Kolo is genuine, honest and highly motivated to work every day. The problem was getting him off the pitch, not putting him on it."
He added: "He was unlucky because he was done in the doping control against Manchester United when he didn't play. That makes it one chance out of nine to be picked.
"He is devastated but legally, what is forbidden is forbidden.
"The mistake he made is not to have asked the Manchester City doctor whether he could take it or not.
"It was completely the kind of stupid thing that can happen when you're punished in life.
"Cross the road, don't look right or left and boom. Half the people don't ask if you deserve it, if you're caught, you're caught."
Unfortunate
Gordon Taylor, chief executive of the Professional Footballers' Association, believes Toure has been 'unfortunate'.
Taylor said: "I feel convinced he has not been seeking to gain any advantage or to be cheating. He has just been unfortunate.
"Players have got to be so, so careful these days. When it (the substance) is on the list it can be anything from a warning to two years (suspension).
"Things have now got to take due process, so we have to be mindful of that fact."
