Stoke striker Berahino says spiked drink led to ban

Berahino joined Stoke in January for a reported 12 million pounds having not played for former club West Bromwich Albion since September 2016.

(Reuters)

West Brom manager Tony Pulis had said repeatedly that the striker was not playing because of a lack of fitness.

"I still don't know who would do this to me," Berahino said in an interview with the BBC. "To be banned for something you haven't done is hard to take."

Berahino said he had never taken drugs and that the levels found in his body were "really low".

The former England under-21 striker added that he had been in a nightclub "so I hold my hand up for being irresponsible".

After the 23-year-old joined Stoke, manager Mark Hughes said Berahino had been suspended for an FA disciplinary matter.

Newspaper reports said he had failed an out-of-competition drugs test.

(Reporting by Clare Lovell; editing by Ken Ferris)