Mamadou Sakho has accepted 'substantial damages' from the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) over allegations that he took high performance-enhancing drugs banned by UEFA, talkSPORTS revealed.

The Crystal Palace defender during his time at Anfield was suspended in 2016 after testing positive for a fat-burning substance known as higenamine after a Europa League game against Manchester United in March through which he missed the Europa League finals against Sevilla.

His sanction cost Liverpool to lose the title to the La Liga side, and further suffered him a place in France Euro 2016 squad.

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He was later cleared in July 2016 by UEFA disciplinary’s body which found that higenamine was not on WADA's banned list and the agency's own laboratories were unsure about its status.

The 30-year old sued WADA after joining the Eagles on a four-year contract in 2017 for defamation and, at a High Court hearing in London on Wednesday, accepted an apology from the agency and an undisclosed sum in damages.

The player’s barrister Julian Santos said the defamatory allegations “were republished by a very large number of media organisations to many millions of readers, causing very serious harm to Mr Sakho's reputation”.

He added: “WADA has apologised and agreed to pay a substantial sum by way of compensation and not to repeat the allegations.”