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Paul Pogba has been banned from football for four years for a doping offence.
The France and Juventus midfielder was provisionally suspended in September after testing positive for testosterone. Pogba won the World Cup with France in 2018, two years after he became the most expensive footballer in the world when Manchester United signed him for a record £89m.
Pogba, who will turn 31 in March, was an unused substitute for Juventus in a Serie A game against Udinese on 20 August when he tested positive for testosterone – a banned substance.
Italy’s national anti-doping body suspended Pogba and a request from Italy’s sports prosecutor to hand Pogba a four-year ban, the maximum punishment available to them, was granted.
Pogba is now expected to appeal the their decision at sport’s highest court, the Court of Arbitration for Sport, in Switzerland, but a four-year ban could potentially spell the end of his career at the top level.
A tribunal said Pogba had violated anti-doping rules when they found the prohibited substance “non-endogenous testosterone metabolites”, adding that the results were “consistent with the exogenous origin of the target compounds”.
Through his agent, Pogba insisted following his initial suspension that he did not break the rules intentionally.
By banning Pogba for four years, Italy’s anti-doping tribunal would have needed to show that the midfielder had taken a banned substance deliberately. Testosterone is a hormone that increases an athletes’ endurance and physical performance.
Pogba won the World Cup with France in 2018
(Getty Images)
In October, a counter-analysis on a second sample taken from Pogba also returned a positive result for testosterone.
Juventus are yet to comment on Pogba’s four-year ban, but when news of Pogba’s provisional suspension broke in September, the Italian club said they would consider “the next procedural steps”.
Juventus signed Pogba on a free transfer in 2022 when his contract with Manchester United expired, handing him a four-year deal.
Pogba made just one start for Juventus last season due to a series of knee and hamstring injuries, while he was also ruled out of the Qatar World Cup.
Through his outstanding performances in midfield and leadership in the dressing room, Pogba played a key role in France’s World Cup win in Russia in 2018.
Pogba’s standing as one of the leading players in the world was reflected when United broke the world transfer record to re-sign him from Juventus in 2016.
But his second spell at Old Trafford often failed to live up to expectations – in what was an inconsistent and disappointing time for the club overall.
In six years, Pogba won the Europa League and Carabao Cup but United failed to compete for the biggest trophies on a regular basis.
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