France and Juventus midfielder Paul Pogba has been banned for four years for a doping offense.
Pogba was temporarily suspended by Italy’s national anti-doping (NADO Italia) court in September 2023 in the wake of testing positive for testosterone, a restricted substance.
Italian prosecutors requested a most extreme four-year ban in December 2023.
Pogba tested positive for testosterone after Juventus’ game against Udinese on August 20, 2023. He didn’t play in the match but was on the bench.
Reports claim Pogba will bid against the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sports.
Pogba opted not to make a plea bargain with Italy’s anti-doping agency, so the case was tried before the country’s anti-doping court.
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A person with direct knowledge of the case confirmed the verdict to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the sentence was not made public due to Italy’s privacy laws.
Four-year bans are standard under the World Anti-Doping Code but can be reduced in cases where an athlete can prove their doping was not intentional, if the positive test was a result of contamination or if they provide “substantial assistance” to help investigators.
Pogba, 30, returned to Juventus in 2022 after his second stint at Manchester United. Since his return to Italy, he was hampered by injuries. He played in 178 matches for Juventus from 2012 to ’16.
He was ruled out of France’s run to the World Cup final in 2022 due to a knee injury.
There has also been an ongoing police investigation in France into allegations that Pogba was targeted by extortionists — including by his older brother Mathias, who has denied any wrongdoing.
