France’s football star, Paul Pogba, has been handed a four-year football ban by Italy’s anti-doping tribunal, as confirmed by his current club, Juventus, on Thursday.
The 30-year-old World Cup champion tested positive for testosterone last August and had been under provisional suspension since September.
“We received notification from the tribunal this morning,” the spokesperson said. Italy’s anti-doping body did not immediately respond when contacted by Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Anti-doping prosecutors had called for the four-year ban to be imposed on the former Manchester United midfielder, who tested positive following Juventus’ opening match of the Italian Serie A season against Udinese on Aug. 20, during which he was an unused substitute.
A month later, a B sample confirmed the presence of testosterone, and he has been provisionally suspended since.
His representatives said the testosterone came from a food supplement prescribed by a doctor he consulted in the United States.
Pogba, who returned to the Old Lady 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 made just 10 appearances and was troubled by off-field issues, including an investigation into an extortion attempt against him.
