Mamadou Sakho Found Innocent By UEFA of Doping Charge

Because that's how life works, it was less than an hour after we wrote about Sakho awaiting his trial date that this bittersweet news broke out of France. Mamadou Sakho, Liverpool's much-beloved center-back, has been cleared by UEFA of all doping charges. This comes only after the player missed the entire last month of the season through suspension and was subsequently denied a place in the France team set to battle in the European Championship next month.

The good news is that the final deadline for submitting the full Euros squad is 31st May, so if UEFA's decision is officially reported soon, Didier Deschamps will have enough time to add Sakho to his list of options, should he choose to do so.

It is assumed that UEFA upheld Sakho's lawyers claims that the fat-burner the player was using was not on the list of banned substances.

Sakho, for his part, was convinced of his innocence back when this charge was announced. According to the initial French report, Sakho was confident that he could prove he'd done nothing wrong. So some vindication for the player after a month of being raked across the coals, and if he can make into the France squad, even better. However, that won't change the fact that, despite Kolo Toure's heroics, Sakho was sourly missed in Liverpool's team for the incredibly important end of their season.