Every day the Europe 1 morning shows one of the sporting events that make the news. This Friday, Virginie Phulpin returns to the Mamadou Sakho affair. He was acquitted of doping charges. The World Anti-Doping Agency apologizes, but the damage has already been done according to Virginie Phulpin.
Justice ruled in favor of Mamadou Sakho. The former PSG, Liverpool and French national team player has never used doping, which the World Anti-Doping Agency accused him of in 2016. He will receive compensation, he was even entitled to an apology. It’s all well and good for Virginie Phulpin, but it’s too late, the damage has already been done.
There’s honor, and then there’s career. So the honor is safe now, but the career is broken. How could Mamadou Sakho make up for four years of his football life? It’s impossible. In April 2016 the World Anti-Doping Agency accused him of doping while taking higenamine. He was immediately suspended until the end of the season. So he could no longer play for Liverpool or the Blues. From that moment on the damage was done.
At that time, Mamadou Sakho was 26 years old, he enjoyed great success with his club and was a starter in the defense of the French team. His suspension marked the end of a well-launched career. He was unable to play in the European Championship in France, and this affair also led him to leave Liverpool earlier than planned to join the much more modest club Crystal Palace. Suffice it to say, he’s fallen off the radar. As a result, the Blues won the World Cup without him, Liverpool won the Champions League without him. Basically everything happened without him.
So even if the World Anti-Doping Agency apologizes and acknowledges the harm, it won’t bring back the four years that should have been the pinnacle of his career. Today Mamadou Sakho is 30 years old and because of this mistake he will probably never become world champion.
Four years to admit a mistake is a long time.
The problem is that a sports career passes much faster than justice. It took UEFA just a few weeks to exonerate Mamadou Sakho, but the World Anti-Doping Agency didn’t follow suit, didn’t acknowledge his mistake and let justice take its course, as they say. And justice takes a long time… Four years.
And the problem is that the feeling that prevails today is precisely that of injustice. Mamadou Sakho never got into trouble, he accepted it without saying anything and today he has to enjoy his victory. But how bitter is this victory.
The compensation he receives will never taste like a World Cup. Never. All we can hope is that the player is so liberated by this decision and by his newfound honor that he returns to his level of four years ago, that he is recalled to the Blues and that he lifts the Euro Trophy in June . We can always dream, we have more than that.
