Paul Pogba, sanctioned for doping, will appeal the decision

FOOTBALL – He took the maximum sentence. Paul Pogba, who tested positive for testosterone in August 2023, was sentenced this Thursday, February 29 to a four-year suspension by the Italian anti-doping court. He will appeal.

“We received notice from the court this morning”a source within Juventus Turin, his club, told AFP, saying “take note” of the court’s decision. The latter followed the prosecution’s requisitions against the 30-year-old midfielder, world champion in 2018 with the Blues, the maximum penalty according to the World Anti-Doping Code.

The footballer reacted on his Instagram account, believing that the verdict was “incorrect”. “I am sad, shocked, and my heart is broken to see everything I have built during my career completely destroyed”he continues, denying having taken “knowingly or deliberately” doping products.

Paul Pogba tested positive in August 2023, during the match between Udinese and Juventus, counting for the first day of the Italian championship, in which he did not participate.

Towards the end of your career?

The midfielder, whose 2022-23 season was disrupted by injuries and extra-sporting problems, was provisionally suspended on September 11, before the second opinion he had requested confirmed less than one month later the presence of testosterone metabolites.

To explain this positive anti-doping test, the entourage of “La Pioche” had indicated that the testosterone metabolites would come from a food supplement prescribed by a doctor, whom the player consulted in the United States.

Testosterone, the hormone of fertility and male sexuality, promotes muscle development.

Paul Pogba can now appeal this sanction. But more than ever, a big doubt hangs over the continuation of his career, knowing that Juventus, with which he is linked until the summer of 2026, can now terminate their contract, due to this suspension, in particular in order to save on salary.

Also see on HuffPost :