Former French world champion Paul Pogba’s football career is almost over after a positive doping test. The 30-year-old Juventus midfielder was banned for four years by the Italian sports court on Thursday. Pogba tested positive for testosterone in August after a Serie A game between Juve and Udinese Calcio. The B sample confirmed the result. His last hope now rests on the Cas International Court of Arbitration for Sports in Switzerland. According to information from the TV channel Sky Italia, Pogba is determined to appeal to the court in Lausanne.
The world champion of the 2018 World Cup in Russia – he scored the goal in the 4-2 win against Croatia to make it 3-1 – had been temporarily excluded from the game since the beginning of September. Pogba also admitted that he had taken a nutritional supplement whose package leaflet mentioned performance-enhancing substances. The 81-time French international has been under contract with Italian record champions Juve again since 2022, for whom he played from 2012 to 2016. The ban also applies to other international leagues.
In fact, until his doping offense at Juve, Pogba was only occasionally on the pitch. He wasn’t used in the game against Udine either, but only sat on the bench. He also played in the English Premier League for Manchester United for several years. As a result of the confession, the defense had hoped for a lesser sentence than the four-year ban. There was initially no comment from the club.