Paul Pogba said he is “sad, shocked and heartbroken” and has vowed to clear his name on appeal after being banned from football for four years for doping offences.
Former Manchester United midfielder Pogba was suspended in September 2023 after his anti-doping sample showed DHEA in his system, which can raise levels of testosterone.
Pogba, who currently plays for Juventus, won the 2018 World Cup with France and will be 34 before he can return to professional football, although he has said he will appeal the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
His four-year ban is considered the harshest possible penalty for the offence and is likely to end his career as an elite player.
“I have today been informed of the Tribunale Nazionale Antidoping’s decision and believe that the verdict is incorrect,” Pogba posted on social media.
“I am sad, shocked and heartbroken that everything I have built in my professional playing career has been taken away from me.
“When I am free of legal restrictions the full story will become clear, but I have never knowingly or deliberately taken any supplements that violate anti-doping regulations.
“As a professional athlete I would never do anything to enhance my performance by using banned substances and have never disrespected or cheated fellow athletes and supporters of any of the teams I have played for, or against.
“As a consequence of the decision announced today I will appeal this before the Court of Arbitration for Sport.”
At his best, Pogba was considered among the finest footballers in the world, a powerful yet technical central midfielder comfortable in a variety of roles.
The Frenchman became the most expensive player in the world in 2016 when he was bought for nearly £90m by United, who had let him go on a free transfer four years prior to this.
Despite winning the Carabao Cup and Europa League in his first season back at Old Trafford, he often came under criticism for perceived inconsistency and his flashy lifestyle off the pitch.
He then returned to Juventus, who he also played for in between his two United stints, on a free transfer in 2022, but his second spell in Turin was first marred by a series of injuries and will now be remembered for his failed drug test.
Despite winning four consecutive Serie A titles between 2012-2016 with Juventus, Pogba’s greatest footballing successes have come with his nation.
The midfielder captained France’s U20 side to World Cup victory in 2013, before being named the best young player at the 2014 senior World Cup.
He then featured heavily as France reached the Euro 2016 final, before scoring in the victorious 2018 World Cup final.
Pogba’s career has been continuously marred by off-field issues – some of his own making, others not.
In August 2022, an investigation was opened into an extortion plot against Pogba by a group of childhood friends and his brother, fellow footballer Mathias.
Pogba told French police two gunmen had asked him for £11.5m in exchange for past services, which included consulting witch doctors.
He also revealed that he suffered from depression while working under Jose Mourinho at Manchester United.
But this may well be an acrimonious end to what would otherwise be a brilliant footballing career, a player who achieved great things but was never considered to quite have realised his boundless potential.
