Stoke’s Saido Berahino claims he failed a drugs test because his drink was spiked in a nightclub
Striker missed a number of games for West Brom earlier this season with what was said to be fitness problems and depression
SAIDO BERAHINO claims he failed a drugs test because his drink was spiked in a nightclub.
The Stoke striker, 23, missed a number of games for West Brom earlier this season with what was said to be fitness problems and depression.
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But Berahino has now said he failed a drugs test due to circumstances beyond his control.
He said: “To be banned for something you haven’t done is hard to take.
“You go on a night out, you don’t know who you are around and there are people out to get you.
“I was in a nightclub, so I hold my hand up for being irresponsible.
“From then on it all crashed down.
“To this day, I still cannot understand who would want to do that to me.”
West Brom boss Tony Pulis repeatedly deflected questions about his forward’s absence.
And it was not until Stoke counterpart Mark Hughes revealed in January his new signing had been suspended due to “a Football Association disciplinary matter” that the reason for his absence came to light.
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But the England Under-21 international was in no mood to give any credit to his former club, with whom his relationship became strained.
Berahino, who joined Albion at the age of 11, turned down three new contract offers and grew increasingly bitter after being denied a number of transfer-window moves to bigger clubs.
He told BBC’s Football Focus: “No one protected me at that club.
“I was depressed. Every morning I walked in the training ground and didn’t want to be there.
“Going from loving something to hating the place that has made you is hard to take.
“Hate is a strong word but I really didn’t want to be there.
“That is one of the reasons I didn’t sign the contracts they put on the table. It was not about money but happiness.”