Sakho - failed drugs test. Are UEFA too lenient?

As we all know, Sakho failed a random drug test and has allegedly taken PED's (Performance Enhancing Drugs). Albeit, they were to help him lose weight, it still leads to better performance. A la Kolo Toure, Sakho will probably receive a 6 month ban. But is that enough?

Are UEFA weak when dealing with footballers who fail drug tests? Some may say 6 months is long enough for taking a substance that helps them lose weight. Fair enough - but the substances are all on the banned list and there was a precedent with Kolo Toure - ironically, a fellow CB at LFC.

Why is it that cyclists and athletes get banned for life (or so they say), but the powers that be allow 'drugs cheats', as that's what they are labelled - to come back and earn a living again after 6 months? Are footballers that thick that they'd put something in their mouth without checking what's in it? It's a simple phone call to WADA - they can tell you in seconds. The FA have their anti-doping programme that all clubs and players know about - it beggars belief that players can be so naive. 

Martin Samuel's take on it.

There is nothing UEFA can do about Liverpool's Europa League progress now — but it seems bizarre Mamadou Sakho can play 90 minutes against Manchester United at Old Trafford, fail a drugs test, yet his performance is treated as if it had no impact on the game.
Liverpool drew 1-1 to progress that night and the numbers show Sakho was their best defender. He had a pass completion rate of 96 per cent, behind only Adam Lallana, and made six tackles, behind only Emre Can. 
His 12 clearances were more than double that of his nearest team-mate, and amounted to 34.3 per cent of the clearances made by Liverpool — he also blocked as many shots as anyone on his team.
Yet UEFA rules state that at least two players have to fail drugs tests for it to be considered to have made a difference to the result — rather mystifying considering they give man of the match awards at their competitions. 
Arsenal were similarly perplexed to discover that Arijan Ademi's status as the best passer in the Dinamo Zagreb team was judged to have had no effect on his side's 2-1 win when he failed a drugs test after their Champions League group match.
Indeed, it says something of the slack procedures at UEFA that Liverpool's quarter-final with Borussia Dortmund was completed before the drugs tests from the round of 16 had even returned from the laboratory. 
What would have happened if two Liverpool players had failed? Would Borussia Dortmund have been reinstated? That's hardly justice for Manchester United.
Some may consider it harsh to disqualify a whole club for a misdemeanour involving a single player — yet that didn't bother UEFA in the case of Legia Warsaw in 2014. 
The Poles had a 3-0 defeat imposed on them for fielding the ineligible Bartosz Bereszynski as a substitute in the last three minutes of a second leg Champions League qualifier that they were already winning 6-1 on aggregate. 
The reversal made the score 4-3 to their opponents, Celtic, who progressed.
The details revealed an innocent administrative misunderstanding — so why more lenient when it comes to drugs?
Ademi is now banned for four years, yet his midfield performance could easily have helped knock Arsenal out of the Champions League this season, just as Sakho's defensive resilience at Old Trafford thwarted United.
Liverpool are fortunate that UEFA do not take drug testing as seriously as misfiled paperwork, or that incredible night against Dortmund might never have happened, let alone the battle for a place in next season's Champions League.

That remains very much up for grabs — providing they fill in the right forms.

How can they be taking a drug to solely help them lose weight?

These are professional PL footballers, who have their own training programmes, their own dieticians, etc, etc. These "athletes" have no excuse not to be fit as a butchers dog, so to have taken a drug to help as well is nothing short of complete madness.
I'd personally ban them for life, they all know to "dos n don'ts".....yet he still took it.

It's very difficult to accept a 'genuine mistake' these days.

UEFA have been poor for so long. Fining us more for being a minute late than for other clubs' racist fans.

It's never right that misfiled paperwork gets a far harsher punishment than failing a drugs test.

It really should be the other way around.

The thing is, his team-mate and fellow CB (Kolo) was guilty of the same thing wasn't he....so definitely no excuses.

Apparently, it was a fat burning drug....well fuck me, get some more miles under your belt in training you lazy fucker!

maybe he was taking Kolo's wifes pills too?

He should have just asked Kolo's wife if he could do some extra house cleaning for her....