Paul Pogba’s doping suspension could be very heavy. Testing positive for testosterone last August and provisionally suspended since September 11, the Juventus Turin midfielder learned this Thursday that a four-year suspension had just been requested against him by the Italian anti-doping prosecutor. A source within the Turin club confirmed the information revealed this Thursday by Italian media concerning “the Pickaxe”.
“I can confirm that we received this notification from the anti-doping authority this Thursday morning, with four years of suspension required,” indicates this source within Juve. This is the maximum penalty provided for this type of offense, in application of the guidelines of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), while the positive results were confirmed in October, after tests on the B sample.
A return of Paul Pogba to the field in 2027?
On Paul Pogba’s side, we plead the unintentional intake and outside of competition, via a food supplement prescribed by a doctor that the 2018 world champion consulted in the United States, to justify this positive test. “If the athlete can establish that an ingestion or use took place out of competition and unrelated to sporting performance, then the period of suspension will be three months of ineligibility,” specifies the Italian anti-doping code.
A version that the transalpine anti-doping prosecution therefore did not accept. If the National Anti-Doping Tribunal confirms the four-year sanction, Paul Pogba will only be able to resume his professional football career in 2027, at the age of 34.