The 2018 world champion was banned for four years for doping on Thursday, his club Juventus announced. This is the latest episode in the almost 31-year-old’s descent into hell.
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Is this the end of Paul Pogba’s career at the highest level? Almost 31 years old (March 15), the midfielder was suspended for four years for doping, Thursday February 29, for his positive test for testosterone revealed in September 2023. A new episode in a long descent into hell for the French international (91 caps, 11 goals), troubled by numerous injuries and extra-sporting affairs since his peak during the Blues’ coronation at the 2018 World Cup in Russia. Since the elimination of the France team in the round of 16 of Euro 2021 by Switzerland, the midfielder has only played seven matches with the Blues and 39 for clubs in two and a half years. Chronology of a fall.
August 3, 2022: opening of an investigation for attempted extortion
In the summer of 2022, Paul Pogba returns to Juventus, the club where he revealed himself at the highest level, after six years of ups and downs at Manchester United. Less than a month after his return to Piedmont, an investigation was opened on August 3 for a “organized gang extortion attempt” of which he was allegedly a victim. The facts date back to March 2021, when five suspects – childhood friends of Pogba – lure him to an apartment in Lagny-sur-Marne (Seine-et-Marne) to try to obtain 13 million euros.
His big brother Mathias Pogba is accused of instigating the commando and threatens him again on social networks a year and a half later, when the affair breaks out in the media. “It was like a movie.”, Paul Pogba then told the Al Jazeera television channel. His brother and four other suspects were placed in pre-trial detention on September 17, 2022. Mathias Pogba was finally released on December 23.
February 28, 2023: a fleeting return to the field
Arriving injured in Turin, Paul Pogba is going through his first season like a ghost. His repeated relapses deprived him of the 2022 World Cup, so much so that he did not play his first match until February 2023 against Torino, seven months after his signing. In a difficult season for Juventus, the midfielder suffered and immediately relapsed: after his knee, his adductors gave out. Short of pace, the Frenchman accumulated a total of 161 minutes of play, divided into 10 matches. Before returning to the infirmary, because of hamstring problems.
September 11, 2023: his positive test announced
Paul Pogba has barely returned to competition when the Italian anti-drug agency (Nado) announces his provisional suspension for doping. Testosterone metabolites were in fact discovered following an anti-doping test for a match against Udinese in August 2023… during which Pogba did not come into play.
These doping productsplay on endurance, muscular strength and mentality”, then indicates on franceinfo the sports doctor Jean-Pierre de Mondenart. His clan, through his lawyer Rafaela Pimenta, convenes a second opinion. Those around him cite food supplements, prescribed by a doctor in the United States, to explain the presence of testosterone.
December 7, 2023: four years of suspension required
The results of sample B, used for the second opinion, are revealed a month later. They confirm the presence of testosterone in the French player’s analyses. Suspended as a precautionary measure, Paul Pogba is set for the first time on December 7, 2023 with the requisitions of the Italian anti-doping prosecution: four years of suspension are required against “La Pioche”, i.e. the maximum penalty provided for in the World Anti-Doping Code.
February 29, 2024: four-year suspension announced
On February 29, 2024, the Italian anti-doping court followed the prosecution’s requisitions and suspended the French player for a period of four years, his club Juventus announced to AFP. The French midfielder then announced his desire to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), the highest sporting court.