Drug ban spells the end for Paul Pogba

Paul Pogba is the highest-profile footballer to be hit with a drugs ban since Diego Maradona in 1994.

It caps a stunning fall from grace for the France World Cup winner who, when he held the trophy aloft in Moscow six years ago, had the world at his feet.

The 30-year-old will not be allowed to step on to a professional football pitch until September 10, 2027, by which time he will be 34 years old.

His ban has been backdated to when he was first provisionally suspended, September 11, 2023.

Given that Pogba appeared to be past his best when he moved back to Juventus from Manchester United in 2022, it is hard to envisage the man who was once the world’s most expensive football player ever again reaching the summit of the game.

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He hasn’t even been allowed to train with his Juventus team-mates since September, when he was first banned, and has been drawing a minimal salary of €2,400 per month, a sum which was agreed between Italian clubs and the national footballers’ association.

Details of Pogba's positive tests

The presence of DHEA, which can elevate testosterone levels, was detected in Pogba’s sample following a Serie A game between Juve and Udinese on August 20. He didn’t even make it off the bench during that encounter. In fact, Pogba has played only 12 times for the Bianconeri since re-signing for the club.

After Italian authorities imposed his provisional ban last September, a second sample was found to be positive in October.

Reports in Italy now confirm that the anti-doping tribunal had accepted the FIGC Prosecutors’ request for a four-year suspension.

Of course, Pogba is entitled to appeal and could yet take his case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Switzerland.

Prosecutors in Italy did not accept Pogba’s defence of “accidental ingestion” of the substance and his defence team were reported to have rejected the offer of a plea deal, which could have seen his ban cut to two years.

Pogba's Juventus nightmare

They say: “Never go back” and in Pogba’s case it might be truer than ever. He was injured almost immediately after signing for the Turin club, tearing a meniscus, but rejected the club’s attempts to get him to have surgery.

At that stage he had one eye on the World Cup but attempts to manage the injury failed and he had no choice but to opt for the surgeon’s knife, missing the Qatar showpiece.

He lost the full season to injury before attempting a comeback at the start of this season.

It has been a mammoth waste of time and money for Juventus, who were estimated to be paying the Frenchman €10 million a year until his ban was confirmed.

Where he goes from here is anyone’s guess. Expect an appeal, the outcome of which is uncertain.

Whatever the case, it could well mark the end for Paul Pogba, the man who had it all.