World Cup winner and former Manchester United star Paul Pogba has officially been banned from football for four years.
Why has Pogba been banned?
Pogba has been convicted of doping and will now serve a four-year ban from football. The French international has been suspended since September amid an ongoing investigation. He failed an anti-doping test and his fate has been up in the air ever since.
Pogba was randomly selected for a test by WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency). Unusual amounts of elevated testosterone were found in his system. This hormone increases an athlete’s endurance. Any substance that can influence a players performance is banned from all sports.
The tribunal said Pogba had violated anti-doping rules when they found the prohibited substance “non-endogenous testosterone metabolites”, adding that the results were “consistent with the exogenous origin of the target compounds”.
Pogba received a one month suspension until founding out the results of the second drugs test. Test B came back positive and he now founds himself with a four-year ban. The four-year ban is considered the strongest possible punishment for the offence.
It was rumoured that Pogba would only face two years. At the time of his initial suspension, Pogba’s agent Rafaela Pimenta, said: “What is certain is that Paul Pogba never wanted to break a rule.”
Pogba is expected to appeal the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
How old is Pogba?
Pogba will turn 31 in March. If he decides not to retire, Pogba will be nearly 35 by the time he next plays professional football.
Pogba has suffered a number of injury setbacks since re-joining Juventus in 2022. He managed less than 2 hours of football last season. He also missed the Qatar 2022 World Cup in which his home nation, France, made it all the way to the final.
It is possible that Juventus will terminate Pogba’s contract. Pogba’s contract was cut down to £1.7k after the initial drugs test.
Juventus will surely cut ties with Pogba to save £81k in wage fees. Juventus are yet to comment on Pogba’s four-year ban, but when news of Pogba’s initial suspension broke in September, the Italian club said they would consider ‘the next procedural steps’.
Pogba released his statement on Instagram, claiming that the truth will come out. He will appeal the case amd verdict that he feels is ‘incorrect’.
View this post on Instagram
Pogba’s legacy
The 30-year-old is a prime example of wasted talent. Joining Manchester United seemed to have killed his career. He signed for them in 2016 for £89m and he was criticised throughout his time at the club. Pogba was found to be very injury prone and often gave lazy performances when he did play.
That’s not to say that Pogba didn’t give amazing performances. His four assists in one match against Leeds and the two goals in Manchester United’s incredible 3-2 comeback against Manchester City at the Etihad. The problem was consistency with Pogba and that’ll be the story of his career.
Add Sportslens to your Google News Feed!
