Due to an anti-doping violation, Juventus midfielder Paul Pogba has been temporarily banned from professional games.
Following Juve’s 3-0 victory over Udinese on August 20, the national anti-doping organisation of Italy (Nado) reported that Pogba returned a test with excessive levels of testosterone.
In a statement, Juventus stated: Juventus Football Club announces that today, 11 September 2023, the footballer Paul Labile Pogba received a precautionary suspension order from the National Anti-Doping Tribunal following the results of tests carried out on 20 August 2023.”
Pogba, a 30-year-old international for France, was a substitute but was chosen at random for a post-game drug test. If proven guilty of doping, he could get a two- to four-year suspension.
When the club discovered the illegal substance in his system as “non-endogenous testosterone metabolites”, the findings were “consistent with the origin of the target compounds,” Nado claimed Pogba had broken the anti-doping laws.
After Pogba’s contract at Manchester United expired in July 2022 and he became a free agent, Juventus re-signed him on a four-year contract. Pogba’s return to Turin has been hindered by ongoing injury issues that also caused him to miss the World Cup in Qatar last year. In games against Bologna and Empoli this season, Pogba has filled in for a total of 51 minutes.
