After testing positive for testosterone in August of last year, France’s Paul Pogba was handed a four-year suspension from football by Italy’s anti-doping tribunal, Juventus said on Thursday.

The 30-year-old World Cup winner had been placed on temporary suspension in September, but a club spokeswoman told AFP that the club had been informed of the judgment against it.

The tribunal notified us this morning,” the spokesperson stated. AFP contacted Italy’s anti-doping organization, but they did not reply right away.

The former Manchester United midfielder, who tested positive for doping after Juventus’s opening Serie A encounter against Udinese on August 20, where he was an unutilized substitute, was to serve a four-year ban, according to anti-doping prosecutors.

After a month, a B sample verified the testosterone presence, and he has been placed on provisional suspension ever since.

According to Pogba’s agents, the testosterone originated from a dietary supplement that was recommended by a physician he saw in the US.
After spending six years at United, Pogba returned to Juventus for a second stint in 2022. Pogba was an important part of the France squad that won the World Cup in Russia in 2018, scoring against Croatia in the championship game.

He was attempting to get past a challenging first season back at Juventus, during which he made just 10 appearances and dealt with off-field problems like an inquiry into an extortion attempt against him, when he tested positive for doping.

AFP