Former Sevilla midfielder Samir Nasri has explained he ‘didn’t know the rules’ for doping irregularities after being handed an 18-month ban from football.
The former France international is now back playing whilst at West Ham United, with the ban imposed from the summer of 2017 following a Spanish Anti-Doping investigation.
The midfielder used a drip treatment he took at a Los Angeles clinic in 2016 while on holiday, with the treatment contravening World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) rules.
“I became sick when I was on holiday with my family,” Nasri told L’Equipe, as cited by Diario AS.
“I was throwing up a lot, I had headaches, so I asked my friend to find me a doctor, but he recommended a clinic in Seville.
“I didn’t know the rules and this is a lesson for younger players to pay attention to them because you could be punished if you do not.
“I can promise that I never doped, all the information of what I did was handed to the authorities.”