LAGOS, NIGERIA (VOICE OF NAIJA)- Juventus midfielder, Paul Pogba, has been banned from football for four years after testing positive for testosterone last August.
Italy’s national anti-doping tribunal (NADO) gave the verdict on Thursday as the former Manchester United player chose to defend his innocence instead of opting for a plea bargain.
Anti-doping prosecutors had called for the four-year ban to be imposed on the former Manchester United midfielder, who tested positive following Juventus’s opening match of the Italian Serie A season against Udinese on August 20, during which he was an unused substitute.
A month later a B sample confirmed the presence of testosterone, and he has been provisionally suspended since.
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His representatives affirmed the testosterone came from a food supplement prescribed by a doctor he consulted in the United States.
Pogba, who returned to Juventus for a second spell in 2022 after six years at United, was a key member of the France team that won the World Cup in Russia in 2018, scoring in the final against Croatia.
He has struggled for game time due to injuries. He has played only eight Serie A matches for Juventus, including two this season before his provisional suspension since 2022.
The four-year suspension means Pogba will return to football in 2027 at the age of 34 years and will miss the 2026 FIFA World Cup if France qualify.