Barnsley defender Bambo Diaby has been banned for two years after breaching the Football Association’s (FA) anti-doping rules, the English football governing body said on Wednesday.
The FA said the 22-year-old’s in-competition urine sample provided to it and U.K. Anti-Doping after Barnsley’s game against Blackburn Rovers on Nov. 23, 2019, contained the prohibited substance Higenamine.
Championship (second-tier) side Barnsley said in a statement in Barnsley that Diaby’s contract had been terminated by mutual consent.
“While Bambo Diaby admitted the charge, he did not establish how the Higenamine entered his system.
“As such, an Independent Regulatory Commission imposed the mandatory two-year ban,” the FA said in a statement.
It added the Senegalese player’s ban is effective from the date of his provisional suspension on Jan. 17 and would run up to Jan. 16, 2022.
“In spite of making sincere efforts to identify the source of the prohibited substance, Diaby has been unable to do so,” Barnsley said.
“Because of this, a two-year mandatory ban has been imposed by the World Anti-Doping Agency and the FA. Diaby wasn’t found guilty of knowingly ingesting a banned substance.”
Diaby said in an open letter to the club’s fans that he was left “devastated” by the ban.
“I maintain my innocence, something the FA acknowledged themselves but I must handle this decision with my family and look forward to a brighter future,” he said.
“And you never know what may happen. I will never give in on one day pulling that shirt back on,” he said.
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