2023-09-11 19:50:14
Juventus midfielder Paul Pogba, in October 2015. GIORGIO PEROTTINO / REUTERS
French international Paul Pogba has been provisionally suspended for doping, the Italian anti-doping agency (Nado) announced in a press release sent to Agence France-Presse on Monday September 11.
The player tested positive for testosterone, which confirms information from the Italian media Corriere della Sera et Gazzetta dello Sport. This check was carried out on the sidelines of the championship match between his club, Juventus Turin, and Udinese, on August 20, according to the Italian press, counting for the first day of the Italian championship. A match in which he did not come into play.
Testosterone is a hormone that is used in a medical setting to treat serious pathologies, but it is considered a doping product in sport. If the second opinion of his B sample confirms the presence of testosterone metabolites, Paul Pogba is liable to a four-year suspension.
A season marked by his repeated injuries
The French footballer returned to Juventus in the summer of 2022 after six seasons at Manchester United.
Aged 30, he lived a nightmarish 2022-2023 season on and off the pitch. The 2018 world champion first suffered injuries, which limited the number of matches played during this exercise to ten and deprived him of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. He was also the victim of an extortion attempt by an organized gang in which one of his brothers is involved.
Read also: Article reserved for our subscribers The Paul Pogba affair, a scenario worthy of a gangster movie
The one whose last match dates back to May 14 made his return to competition on August 27 during his team’s draw at home against Bologna (1-1), in the Italian championship. “Of course, I’m happy to have returned to the field, to be able to do again what I love most in the world, to feel good physically and to be able to help the team,” he told the DAZN platform after the match.
He came on the following weekend during the match against Empoli, counting for the 3rd day of the championship, but finished the match weakened due to pain in his right thigh. The examinations then turned out to be reassuring.
Shortly before the announcement of the positive result of his control, the Frenchman had assured that he had the « rage » et “the desire to play” this season, believing that his extra-sporting problems had made him ” stronger “in an interview broadcast by the Qatari television channel Al-Jazeera.
#Paul #Pogba #suspended #doping #Italy