French football star Paul Pogba’s initial four-year doping ban has been reduced to 18 months, as confirmed by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on Friday.
The decision will take effect from 11 September 2023, thus, enable the Juventus midfielder to resume competitive football by March 11, 2025, just before his 32nd birthday.
In retrospect, Pogba was have tested positive for testosterone in August 2023, following a match between Juventus and Udinese.
He was provisionally suspended the following month, and the Italian National Anti-Doping Tribunal handed down a four-year ban in February 2024.
However, Pogba’s representatives attributed the presence of testosterone to a food supplement prescribed by a doctor in the United States.
Pogba’s career has seen a downturn since his return to Juventus from Manchester United in 2022, with injuries limiting him to just 10 appearances in the 2022-23 season.
A knee injury also ruled him out of the 2022 Qatar World Cup, where France lost in the final to Argentina. Additionally, Pogba was involved in an extortion case, with six men, including his brother Mathias, set to stand trial.
