France star Paul Pogba has been banned from football for four years by an Italian anti-doping tribunal after testing positive for testosterone last August, Juventus said on Thursday.
release:
3 minutes
A club spokesman told AFP they had been notified of the decision against the 30-year-old World Cup winner, who was provisionally suspended in September.
“We received notice from the court this morning,” the spokesman said. Italy’s anti-doping agency did not immediately respond when contacted by AFP.
A source close to Pogba confirmed to AFP that he will appeal the ruling, which could see his career end prematurely.
This means that Pogba will not play again until the 2027/28 season, when he will be 34 years old.
Anti-doping prosecutors have called for a four-year ban for the former Manchester United midfielder, who tested positive after Juventus’ first Serie A match against Udinese on August 20, where he He did not play as a substitute in the game.
read moreFrom Pogba to potions: the secret world of French witch doctors
A month later, a B sample confirmed the presence of testosterone, after which he was temporarily suspended.
Pogba’s representatives said the testosterone came from a food supplement prescribed by a doctor he consulted in the United States.
The ban could be limited to two years if Pogba can prove he was not at fault, or even a few months if the use of the substance was “outside of the game and not related to his level” . Performance”.
Pogba, who returned to Juventus for a second time in 2022 after six years at Manchester United, was a key member of France’s 2018 World Cup-winning squad in Russia and scored in the final against Croatia.
His positive doping test comes as he attempts to put behind a difficult first season at Juventus in which he struggled with fitness issues and made just 10 appearances while also missing out through injury. France’s defense of the World Cup in Qatar.
He made two appearances as a substitute for Juventus at the start of the season before being suspended.
blackmail attempt
Meanwhile, Pogba, who was a youth player at Le Havre before first moving to Old Trafford in 2009 as a 16-year-old, has been plagued by off-field issues.
France is investigating an extortion attempt against him in March 2022, which involved a break-in at his home in a Paris suburb.
Two intruders allegedly held Pogba against his will, demanding €13 million ($14.1 million at today’s exchange rates).
Pogba’s brother Mathias is one of the suspects involved, along with childhood friends of the family.
His contract with Juventus is reportedly worth €8 million ($8.7 million) per season and runs until 2026.
However, he has been unable to participate in training since the news of the positive test was announced, and Juventus has suspended the payment of his wages.
Pogba made just a handful of appearances in his first season in England before becoming a star at Juventus between 2012 and 2016.
During that time, he won four consecutive Serie A titles and played for Juventus in the 2015 Champions League final that lost to Barcelona.
In 2016, he returned to Manchester United for 105 million euros, setting a world transfer fee record at the time, and won the Europa League and League Cup under Mourinho in his first season back.
Pogba has made 91 appearances for France, reaching the 2016 Euro final and winning the World Cup two years later.
(AFP)