Paul Pogba has been banned from football for four years for a doping offence, but the former World Cup winner is set to take his appeal to court in a bid to save his career.
The France and Juventus midfielder was provisionally suspended in September after testing positive for testosterone but in a statement, the 30-year-old insisted he has “never knowingly or deliberately” violated anti-doping rules.
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Paul Pogba has been banned from football for four years for a doping offence, but the former World Cup winner is set to take his appeal to court in a bid to save his career.
The France and Juventus midfielder was provisionally suspended in September after testing positive for testosterone but in a statement, the 30-year-old insisted he has “never knowingly or deliberately” violated anti-doping rules.
Pogba said he was “sad, shocked and heartbroken” and believes the verdict of Italy’s national anti-doping tribunal to hand him the maximum penalty of four years is “incorrect”.
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.
He was an unused substitute for Juventus in a Serie A game against Udinese on 20 August when he tested positive for testosterone. In October, counter-analysis on a second sample taken from Pogba also returned a positive result.
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.
Shortly after their verdict was released, Pogba confirmed that he will appeal the decision at sport’s highest court, the Court of Arbitration for Sport, in Switzerland.
Pogba will turn 31 in March and a four-year ban could potentially spell the end of his career at the top level.
