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Manchester City defender Kolo Toure has been suspended after testing positive for a specified substance.
The 29-year-old was informed by the Football Association that an A sample he provided had returned positive.
City confirmed in a statement that Toure had been suspended "pending the outcome of the legal process".
Ivory
Coast international Toure, whose brother Yaya also plays for City, is a
former club captain who joined City from Arsenal in July 2009.
The
defender has gone on to make more than 50 appearances for City,
although he was not involved in Wednesday's FA Cup victory over Aston
Villa.
The failed test automatically triggered
the suspension and it is understood that Toure was left out of the squad
because the club had been made aware of the situation.
The City statement added: "There will be no further comment from the football club at this stage."
And
on Thursday evening an FA statement said: "The FA can confirm that a
player has been provisionally suspended from playing pending
investigation, having tested positive for the use of a prohibited
substance."
The World Anti-Doping Agency defines a
specified substance as one that is "more susceptible to a credible,
non-doping explanation".
The Wada punishment for such a positive test ranges from a warning to a two-year ban.
Hamilton
Academicals midfielder Simon Mensing recently served a four-week ban
after a specified substance was detected in his system.
The
28-year-old tested positive for the stimulant methylhexaneamine at the
end of January and subsequently missed five matches after a period of
ineligibility was imposed on him.
The player
maintained he was unaware he had ingested the substance while using a
dietary supplement - an explanation which was accepted by UK
Anti-Doping.
Toure was the skipper of City until the start of the current campaign, when the armband was passed to Carlos Tevez.
The
Ivorian defender was brought to the Premier League by Arsenal in 2002
and he remained with the London club until his £14m transfer to City.
Toure,
who is under contract with City until the summer of 2013, was one of
several high-profile arrivals in the summer of 2009 as then-manager Mark
Hughes spent more than £100m on new players.
City
are currently pursuing trophies on three fronts. They will play Reading
in the quarter-final of the FA Cup, are set to take on Dynamo Kiev in
the Europa League and lie third in the Premier League, 10 points behind
leaders Manchester United.