French international soccer player Paul Pogba may be facing the end of his career after a positive doping test. The 30-year-old Juventus midfielder was banned for four years by the responsible sports court on Thursday. Pogba tested positive for testosterone in August after a Serie A game between Juve and Udinese Calcio. The B sample confirmed the result. Pogba’s side said it would “of course” challenge the verdict.
Pogba has been temporarily suspended since the beginning of September. The professional footballer also admitted that he had taken a food supplement whose package leaflet had mentioned performance-enhancing substances. The Italian anti-doping court followed the prosecutor’s request in terms of punishment. In an initial reaction, Juventus said it had “taken note” of the decision.
Pogba won the 2018 World Cup
“The Frenchman’s adventure in bianconeri ends, perhaps even his career,” wrote the Gazzetta dello Sport shortly after the verdict was announced. The former 105 million euro man, the 2018 World Cup champion, seems to have reached rock bottom.
For Pogba, who is a global player with 61 million followers on Instagram, the decline continues. At the World Cup in Russia he impressed as a dynamic and technically adept driver, and in the 4-2 final against Croatia he set the course with the goal to make it 3-1. Two years earlier he had moved from Turin to Manchester United for what was then a record fee of over 100 million. Ultimately, he did not live up to his great hopes in England.
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The 81-time French national player has been under contract with the Italian record champions since the year before last, for whom he played from 2012 to 2016. In fact, he has only been on the pitch occasionally since then. He wasn’t used in the game against Udine either, but only sat on the bench.