Tottenham academy graduate tests positive for cocaine

Breaking news out of Kingston-upon-Hull today. The Telegraph is reporting that Hull City starting midfielder and former Tottenham Hotspur player Jake Livermore has been suspended for the rest of the season by Hull after testing positive for cocaine.

Hull star Jake Livermore has tested positive for cocaine - full story by @LukeEdwardsTele http://t.co/3xH6CVFYky pic.twitter.com/qU6lKA8jB2

— Telegraph Football (@TeleFootball) May 15, 2015

This is devastating news for Hull City which already face a huge uphill battle to stave off relegation from the Premier League this season. Hull essentially need wins against Spurs this weekend and Manchester United next weekend in order to feel even remotely good about their chances of staying up.

It's also bad news if you're still a fan of Jake Livermore. Jake was a Tottenham academy player who came good until he was deemed surplus to requirements by Andre Villas-Boas last season and loaned to Hull. The Tigers bought him outright last summer. A major drug violation such as this one could lead to a protracted ban from football by the Premier League, and might even be grounds for a breach of contract and could lead to his dismissal from Hull City. This is the kind of thing that will likely severely damage, or even end, his career.

This is "good" news for Spurs in that it takes Livermore off the board for tomorrow's match, but it's bad news in every other conceivable way. Jake Livermore is a good player who allegedly just did a very stupid thing, and it's by nearly every possible metric a footballing tragedy. Hopefully he can recover.