ROME, Italy
France star Paul Pogba has been given a four-year ban from football by Italy's anti-doping tribunal after testing positive for testosterone last August, his club Juventus said on Thursday.
A spokesman for the club told
reporters it had been notified of the decision against the 30-year-old World
Cup winner, who had been provisionally suspended in September.
"We received notification
from the tribunal this morning," the spokesman said.
Pogba announced he would
appeal the ruling, which risks bringing a premature end to his career.
"I am sad, shocked and
heartbroken that everything I have built in my professional playing career has
been taken away from me," he posted on Instagram.
Declaring the verdict was
"incorrect", he denied ever using performance-enhancing substances.
ALSO READ: Paul Pogba is banned from football for four years for doping
"When I am free of legal
restrictions the full story will become clear, but I have never knowingly or
deliberately taken any supplements that violate anti-doping regulations",
he insisted.
"As a consequence of the
decision announced today I will appeal this before the Court of Arbitration for
Sport."
The ban means Pogba will not
be able to play again until the 2027/28 season, by which time he will be 34.
Anti-doping prosecutors had
called for the four-year ban to be imposed on the former Manchester United
midfielder, who tested positive following Juventus's opening match of the
Italian Serie A season against Udinese on August 20, during which he was an unused
substitute.
A month later a B sample
confirmed the presence of testosterone, and he had been provisionally suspended
since.
Pogba's representatives said
the testosterone came from a food supplement prescribed by a doctor he
consulted in the United States.
The ban could have been
limited to two years if Pogba had been able to prove he was not at fault, or
even just a few months if the use of the substance took place "out of
competition and (was) not related to his level of performance".
Pogba, who returned to
Juventus for a second spell in 2022 after six years at United, was a key member
of the France team that won the World Cup in Russia in 2018, scoring in the
final against Croatia.
His positive doping test came
as he was trying to put behind him a difficult first season back at Juve, in
which he struggled with fitness problems and made just 10 appearances, while
also missing France's defence of the World Cup in Qatar due to injury.
He made two substitute
appearances for Juventus at the start of this campaign before being suspended.
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