France star Paul Pogba has been banned from football for four years by Italy’s anti-doping tribunal after testing positive for testosterone last August, his club Juventus announced on Thursday.
A club spokeswoman told AFP that it had been advised of the judgment against the 30-year-old World Cup winner, who had been provisionally suspended in September.
“We received notification from the tribunal this morning,” the spokesman said. Italy’s anti-doping body did not immediately respond when contacted by AFP.
Anti-doping prosecutors had requested a four-year punishment for the former Manchester United midfielder, who tested positive following Juventus’ opening match of the Italian Serie A season against Udinese on August 20, in which he was an unused substitute.
A month later, a B sample revealed the presence of testosterone, and he has been provisionally suspended since.
Pogba’s agents stated that the testosterone came from a dietary supplement prescribed by a doctor he saw in the United States.
Pogba, who returned to Juventus for a second term in 2022 after six years at Manchester United, was a vital player of France’s World Cup-winning squad in Russia in 2018, scoring in the final against Croatia.
His positive doping test occurred as he was attempting to move on from a difficult first season back at Juventus, in which he made only 10 appearances and was plagued by off-field troubles, including an investigation into an extortion attempt against him.