On Friday, October 4, French footballer Paul Pogba, who was given a four-year drug ban at the start of the 2023-24 football season, got it reduced to 18 months following a successful appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). After testing positive for Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), a hormone that increases endurance, during the first match of last season, Paul Pogba was banned from football for four years effective from September 11, 2023, but now, he is eligible to return to football in March of next year.
Following the confirmation from CAS director general Matthieu Reeb about Paul Pogba’s ban being reduced to 18 months, the Juventus midfielder remarked that finally the nightmare is over. Notably, in March of this year, the Italian National Anti-Doping Tribunal (TNA) had accepted the request of the Anti-Doping Prosecutor’s Office of issuing a four-year ban to Paul Pogba, the standard length with World Anti-Doping Code (WADA), which would have meant that he would have had to wait to play in 2027.
I can look forward to the day when I can follow my dreams again: Paul Pogba
The report from BBC Sport quoted sources in regards to how Paul Pogba can resume training in January 2025 before becoming eligible to return to football two months later. After the verdict from CAS, the 31-year-old was quoted as saying, “Finally the nightmare is over. Following the decision by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, I can look forward to the day when I can follow my dreams again.”
Paul Pogba also talked about how he never breached the WADA regulation knowingly before thanking the CAS judges for their verdict, and said, “I always stated that I never knowingly breached World Anti-Doping Agency regulations when I took a nutritional supplement prescribed to me by a doctor, which does not affect or enhance the performance of male athletes. I play with integrity and, although I must accept that this is a strict liability offence, I want to place on record my thanks to the Court of Arbitration for Sport’s judges who heard my explanation.”
In his concluding remarks, the French footballer pointed out the tough times after getting slapped with a four-year ban from football. He remarked, “This has been a hugely distressing period in my life because everything I have worked so hard for has been put on hold.”