Feb 29, 2024 at 12:59 PM Update: a day ago
Juventus midfielder Paul Pogba was banned for four years on Thursday for violating doping rules. The football career of the thirty-year-old Frenchman seems to be virtually over, although he is appealing to the sports tribunal CAS.
Pogba had been provisionally suspended since September following testing positive for the banned muscle-enhancing drug testosterone. That positive test was taken following Udinese-Juventus, a match in which the 2018 French world champion did not participate. He then played two more matches.
In December, the Italian anti-doping prosecutor demanded a four-year ban. Pogba did not use the opportunity to provide mitigating circumstances, for example that he used the drug unintentionally. However, he denies knowingly cheating.
“I am sad, in shock and devastated that everything I have built is being taken away from me. The real story will still come to light, but I have never knowingly taken any banned supplements,” Pogba said in a statement.
“As a professional athlete, I would never take anything to further my performance. I have also never disrespected or deceived teammates or supporters of the clubs I played for or once morest. I will appeal to the CAS.”
Foto: Getty Images
Pogba played at the top for years
Juventus withheld Pogba’s salary from the moment news of the positive doping test emerged. Now that his suspension is permanent, he is no longer allowed to train. The Frenchman will be stuck in Turin until mid-2026.
Pogba’s career seems to be fizzled out. Between 2012 and 2016, he impressed as a top talent at Juventus, which sold him to Manchester United for more than 100 million euros. That club had let him leave for free four years earlier. He returned to the ‘Old Lady’ in the summer of 2022.
Pogba played 91 times for France, becoming world champion in 2018 and winning the Nations League three years later. He won four national titles with Juventus. In 2017 he won the Europa League with United by beating Ajax in the final.
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Beeld: Getty Images
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