- Failed standard drugs test in August 2023
- Handed lengthy suspension to 2027
- Intends to contest that ruling & clear name
WHAT HAPPENED?
The World Cup winner failed a standard doping test in August 2023, with a B sample also coming back positive. As a result, he was stung with a lengthy suspension from all football-related activity. Pogba is taking his appeal against that ruling to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
.jpg?resize=640%2C360&ssl=1)
WHAT POGBA SAID
Pogba is being prevented from doing his day job at present and recently figured in a video in which he claimed to be “dead” professionally. The 31-year-old claims that production was poorly edited, with his career far from being over. Pogba has told Sky Sport Italia: “If you don’t see a video where I say that I am stopping with football it’s because I am still a football player. I am still here, still positive, I have an opportunity to fight what in my view is an injustice. We’ll see, things will go better. I don’t know if you saw the whole interview, but they only put up a part of it were I hadn’t even finished speaking yet. Pogba is not finished, Pogba is here and until you see me say I’m finished, don’t worry. I still feel like a player, I am training and in these moments I must only be positive. I am spending a lot of time with my family, seeing my kids grow up. I am not doing what I love, which is football, but I am really eager to get back. I am so eager, I feel like a kid who wants to be a professional.”
THE BIGGER PICTURE
Pogba is working on the lowest possible salary at Juventus, as he cannot train or play for them, but reports of his contract being terminated on June 30 proved to be wide of the mark. The France international, who was in attendance to watch his country battle past Belgium in the last-16 of Euro 2024 and visited the squad after the game, added on his future at club level: “From the last I heard, I am still a Juventus player and I think you’d have to ask them. I have a contract, I have not been able to talk yet to the director or the coach, there is silence… I think they are waiting for the appeal. As for the rest, you’d have to ask them.”
WHAT NEXT?
Pogba’s ban is due to run until 2027 as things stand. The former Manchester United star hopes he will be back on the field long before then, but there are a number of legal hurdles to clear before he can lace up a pair of boots.
