Paul Pogba is facing the shambles of his professional career. The 2018 French world champion was banned for four years by the Italian sports tribunal, as his club Juventus Turin confirmed to the AFP news agency on Thursday. The midfielder now wants to appeal to CAS.
The court thus followed the punishment demanded by the responsible public prosecutor’s office. Pogba’s side announced that it would “naturally” appeal the verdict. On August 20, 2023, Pogba tested positive for doping during his club Juventus Turin’s visit to Udine, where he sat on the bench for 90 minutes and did not play. Both the A and B samples showed excessive testosterone levels.
The midfielder was provisionally suspended in mid-September. In December, the responsible anti-doping public prosecutor’s office applied for a four-year ban. The court has now followed this request in its ruling. The court apparently did not believe the defense’s claim that Pogba had inadvertently taken the banned substances via a dietary supplement. Pogba’s lawyers had previously rejected a plea bargain. According to Italian media reports, this would have halved the length of the sentence to two years
Now the 81-time France international, who turns 31 on March 15, is facing the shambles of his professional career. “The Frenchman’s adventure in bianconeri is coming to an end, perhaps even his career,” wrote the “Gazzetta dello Sport” shortly after the verdict was announced. Pogba’s contract with Juventus is at risk of being terminated. The Frenchman’s salary had already been cut in Turin
Pogba wants to appeal to the CAS
In a statement posted on Instagram, the 2018 world champion announced his intention to appeal against the decision and take his case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). “I don’t think the ruling is right,” he wrote in his post. “I am sad, shocked and heartbroken that everything I have built up in my professional career is being taken away from me.” He had “never knowingly or intentionally taken any supplements that violate anti-doping rules”. He is convinced that “the whole story will come to light” as soon as he is allowed to speak publicly about the case.
2022 was the second time Pogba had moved from Manchester United to Italian record champions Juventus, for whom he had already played from 2012 to 2016. With the Red Devils, to whom he returned in 2016 for 105 million euros, he won the Europa League in 2017, and with Juve he won the Italian championship four times (2013-2016) and the cup twice (2015, 2016).
