Soccer

Juventus star Paul Pogba has doping ban reduced to 18 months after appeal to CAS

The France midfielder will be allowed to play again from March next year.

Paul Pogba has had his doping ban reduced
Paul Pogba has had his doping ban reduced (Martin Rickett/PA)
By Carl Markham, PA

Juventus midfielder Paul Pogba has had his four-year doping ban reduced to 18 months by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

The 31-year-old was sanctioned in March, having been provisionally suspended in September last year, after testing positive for dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA).

Paul Pogba has successfully appealed against a four-year doping ban and had the sentence reduced
Paul Pogba has successfully appealed against a four-year doping ban and had the sentence reduced (Owen Humphreys/PA)

However, Pogba lodged an appeal and has been successful in getting his suspension reduced to allow him to start playing again from March next year.

CAS director general Matthieu Reeb told The Guardian: “The suspension is now 18 months, starting September 11 2023.”

Italy’s National Anti-Doping Tribunal issued the ban, a standard length stipulated by the World Anti-Doping Code (WADA), but there is provision for it to be reduced if the athlete can prove the breach was not intentional, was the result of contamination or they provide “substantial assistance” to investigators.

At the time the ban was issued Pogba’s agent Rafaela Pimenta told Sky Sports News: “Paul never wanted to break the rules.”

On Friday Pogba, who said he would tell his full story “when I am free of legal restrictions”, posted a picture on social media of a close-up of him in football boots and personalised PP6 socks embroidered with the France flag and two stars (representing their World Cup wins) with an hourglass emoji.