Juventus midfielder Paul Pogba is facing a four-year ban from soccer for testing positive for testosterone.
Italy’s anti-doping council notified Pogba on Thursday that he would be suspended for four years after his positive test in September. Weeks after his A sample tested positive, his B sample also tested positive for testosterone.
Per multiple reports, Pogba is expected to appeal the decision. The BBC reported that “it is understood Pogba believes that if he did take a banned substance, he did so inadvertently.”
Pogba has been unable to play soccer since the positive test and the four-year suspension officially dates back to the date of his positive test. The length of the suspension could effectively mean the 29-year-old’s career at the highest levels of soccer is over. Unless he successfully appeals the ban, Pogba will be 33 when he’s eligible to return.
Pogba has been one of the most high-profile players in the world and is more known for his tantalizing potential than anything else. The French player joined Manchester United’s academy in 2009 and made his first-team debut during the 2011-12 season.
He was sold to Juventus ahead of the following season and he played with the Italian giant through the 2015-16 season. Manchester United then brought him back to the club in the summer of 2016 for a then-world record fee of over $100 million.
Pogba’s second run at Manchester United was tumultuous. He scored just 29 goals in 154 appearances and the club let his contract run out at the end of the 2021-22 season as it became clear that Pogba wanted to return to Italy. He rejoined Juventus in July of 2022, but suffered a knee injury two weeks later and missed the 2022 World Cup. He’s appeared in just eight games across his second stint with Juventus.
