The suspension imposed upon Paul Pogba by Italy’s Nado indeed was one of the toughest phases in the career of this promising French midfielder. Finally, he would be able to see a little patch of the silver lining.
Sources close to the 31-year-old Juventus player told AFP that he would be able to resume training in January 2025 and to start playing again in March 2025. C’est gros, après ces quelques mois très compliqués de batailles juridiques et de combats personnels pour le joueur de Juve et de la sélection française.
Tests had revealed that Pogba had abnormally high levels of testosterone, regarded as a hormone boosting endurance and all-around physical ability. It was also the month when Juventus played its first match of the current season in August 2023.
The provisional result led to his provisional suspension last September 2023, while follow-up tests the month afterward had made known the banned substance in Pogba’s system. The anti-doping prosecutor’s office had asked for a four-year ban which would have ruled Pogba out of professional football until 2027 – when he would be 34.
This first decision, therefore, came as a huge blow for Pogba, who had always claimed his innocence, with the midfielder swearing during the investigation and hearings that he had never knowingly breached any anti-doping rules whatsoever.
His defense, of course, was that it came into his system through a vitamin preparation recommended by a doctor; for a reason – according to Pogba – that was health-related to do with nothing whatsoever with enhancing performances.
“I have always said that I never knowingly violated World Anti-Doping Agency rules when I took a nutritional supplement recommended to me by a doctor,” Pogba said in a statement to repeat his assertion of innocence. It was such a serious ban that Pogba took his case to CAS, which heard him in person at an earlier hearing in 2023. Such a day it had proved-a seminal moment for Pogba, whose career might have been put on hold for several years.
A winner of the 2018 World Cup with France, this midfielder has had an extremely fluctuating career, with moments of genius and heartbreaking injuries adding this suspension to the future in football. Fortunately for Pogba, Cas looked at the evidence and finally reached a decision to cut his ban to 18 months, with the suspension deemed effective from September 2023.
It has taken a weight from his shoulders as he thanked the Cas judges for listening to an explanation. “Finally, the nightmare is over, and I could see the day where I will be able to pursue my dreams once again,” Pogba said in a statement after the ruling. He further said he was committed to playing the game with integrity, reiterating he had never intentionally set out to breach any rules. “The whole process has become so distressing to me as everything I have been working for has been on hold,” he added.
That reduction of ban means that Pogba will now be free to return to training early in 2025 and be reunited with competitive football in only a few months. This is a slight chance for redemption for the French midfielder after some torrid times initially because of suspension and then a series of niggling injuries. Since his return to Juventus in July 2022 on a four-year contract, Pogba struggled to get fit and is mostly out on the sidelines. Those injuries meant that he was never going to make it to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, while this season he has played no more than a bit-part, racking up just 162 minutes in five appearances.
Of course, Pogba’s return to Juventus in 2022 was highly awaited, above all, after having left Manchester United on a free transfer.
Of course, the talented midfielder could be brilliant at times, but was largely criticized for inconsistency and injuries during his second spell at United. His return to Turin was meant to be a fresh start for the French star, but it so happened that the injury woes crossed borders into Italy. After struggling to get full fitness, Pogba managed to play just 51 minutes this season before his suspension was announced, further muddling his attempts at making an impact at Juventus.
Anyway, Pogba is confident about his future, and with a reduction of his suspension, he finally is on the pitch to come back to being one of the best midfielders in Europe.
There is little doubt that Juventus will hope he can finally put his injury and suspension woes behind him and help the team to enjoy some success in the latter stages of the player’s career.
Given the investment that was made to bring Pogba back to Turin, how he performs over the next few years will go a long way toward determining whether the big investment pays dividends.
Pogba’s journey has been marked by both triumph and adversity. With his rise as a young player, he soon became one of the hottest talents in world football. Performances at the 2018 World Cup showed he had become one of the best midfielders in the world, and his transfer to Manchester United in 2016 for a then-record fee in the world underlined his talent.
During the last couple of years, he has been facing a number of injuries and inconsistency, to which this doping suspension remained icing on the cake.
The Frenchman, now finally facing a clear pathway toward the resumption of his career, wanted to get this chapter of his career out of the way and back to his usually high standards. The player’s future is bright, and if he can manage to remain fit and not suffer further setbacks, then there is no reason why he cannot return to being at the very cornerstone for Juventus and France. With Pogba now geared up to return to action, there is something that is sure to keep fans from every part of the globe on their toes: how he’s going to fare in his matches.
At 31 years, he still has time to make great marks in the game. That surely says much about his character. For sure, it remains to be seen whether Pogba can get back to the top of world football, but his story isn’t over as of yet.
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