Drogba backs Toure over drug test

Kolo Toure is suspended from football after he tested positive

Didier Drogba has backed his Ivorian colleague Kolo Toure by declaring his failed drugs test a ‘stupid mistake’.

The Manchester City ace was suspended from football last week after testing positive for an unspecified substance.

Drogba says the absence of Toure, 29, from this month’s Nations Cup qualifier against Benin will be a big blow.

He said: “It will be a difficult situation for us because he is one of our most important players – one of the oldest and the most experienced,”

“But I think everyone knows how great he is (and) how stupid the mistake was.

“I don’t think he did it to improve his performance – it was just a mistake.”

Drogba says he has spoken to Toure since the incident and that his long-time team-mate is troubled by the prospect of a potential two-year ban from football.

“He was down but that’s normal,” the Elephants star added.

“We feel sorry for him and he’ll have all our support and that’s the maximum we can do.”

“He told me what happened and there’s not a big difference between has been said by Arsene Wenger and what Kolo says.”

Last week, Arsenal coach Wenger said that Toure, a former player of his, had failed the drugs test after taking his wife’s dieting pills.

The centre-back made his international debut in 2000 and has gone to make over 80 appearances since, winning caps at both the 2006 and 2010 World Cup finals.