Hull City midfielder Jake Livermore has escaped a two year drugs ban because of a family tragedy.
The 25 year old tested positive for cocaine last April, and was suspended the following month by the English Football Association.
Testing positive for a class A drug can result in a two year ban for professional footballers, however, Livermore revealed that he turned to the drug in a state of depression, following the death of his newborn child in May 2014.
The FA have rules regarding ‘exceptional circumstances’, and made a special consideration for the Hull midfielder at a meeting held last week.
Livermore could still recieve a suspended sentence, and remains suspended by his club, who have yet to set a date for the player’s return.
“There’s no question it was a mitigating factor,” Hull manager Steve Bruce told the BBC last month. “Unfortunately he lost his baby just after the FA Cup final last year.”
“Jake has kept all of the problems that he had to himself. All footballers think they are macho-men but they have problems like everybody else.”
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