Liverpool defender Mamadou Sakho has dramatically been cleared to play for host nation France at Euro 2016 after UEFA decided not to renew his initial suspension pending a further investigation.
French
manager Didier Deschamps now has 7
2 hours to decide whether to draft in
Sakho following injury to Real Madrid's Raphael Varane.
All Euro 2016 squads
have to be finalised on May 31 though Sakho's inclusion would be
controversial given that the disciplinary process into his failed drugs
test on March 17 is still ongoing.
Sakho was
originally given a 30-day ban on April 28 for testing positive for a
prohibited substance following a Europa League tie against Manchester
United.
That
suspension ended on Saturday and UEFA failed to impose a new one after
Sakho submitted his defence on Monday and questioned whether the
substance, believed to be a fat-burning supplement, should be on the
prohibited list.
Sakho's
defence team supplied scientific evidence to support their case and
rather than set a date for a hearing, UEFA have ordered their own
disciplinary body to first investigate whether the substance should be
on the WADA list.
With
his provisional playing suspension lifted for the time being,
26-year-old Sakho is theoretically available for Les Bleus even though
he is short of match practice.
A UEFA
spokesman told Sportsmail: 'The 30-day provisional suspension ends today
(Saturday). The chairman of the Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body
decided not to extend it.
'The player would thus be free to play as from tomorrow (Sunday). A decision on the case will be made within the next few days.'
Liverpool declined to comment
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