Mamadou Sakho may be a free man after his UEFA anti-doping suspension came to an end, but he still won’t be joining up with France in Euro 2016 next month.
According to The Guardian, France manager Didier Deschamps confirmed that he will not be adding the Liverpool star defender to his Euro 2016 roster despite seeing Sakho’s 30-day football ban for doping end. Deschamps explained that it would be disrespectful to his players to add Sakho this late in the selection process after keeping him off the preliminary list.
“Seriously? No. Or I have no respect for the players I selected,” Deschamps said when asked Sakho’s potential return.
“When I decided [on the squad] there was no evidence that the end [for Sakho] would be positive, even if it needed confirmation.”
Les Bleus’ centre-back position has already been ravaged by injuries with Raphael Varane and Jeremy Mathieu already ruled out of the tournament. Up front they’ve also had to make major adjustments with leading scorer Karim Benzema kicked off the team and youngster Anthony Martial picking up an injury over the weekend.
Sakho has not made an appearance since April (4/20, ironically) and missed the last few games of the season including the Europa League Final after the UEFA ban was handed down.
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