The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) said on Friday that it had reduced the ban imposed on World Cup winner Paul Pogba due to doping to 18 months from an initial four years.
“The suspension is now for 18 months, starting on September 11, 2023,” Mathieu Repp, Director General of the Sports Court, told Reuters.
The decision means the former France international will be eligible to return to competitive football in March 2025.
Pogba did not immediately comment, but made a mysterious post on his Instagram account of a photo – purportedly of himself – wearing a pair of shoes and socks with the initials ‘PP’.
Pogba, 31, has not played since August 2023 after testing positive for DHEA – a banned substance that raises testosterone levels – following Juventus’ Serie A match against Udinese.
He was provisionally suspended by the Italian National Anti-Doping Court (NADO Italia) in September of that year before being banned for four years in February 2024.
Pogba, who is under contract with Juventus until June 2026, denied any wrongdoing and said he would appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
A four-year ban is standard under the World Anti-Doping Code but can be reduced in cases where an athlete can prove doping was not intentional, if the positive test was the result of contamination or if he provided “substantial assistance” to assist investigators. .
Pogba returned to Juventus in 2022 after his second spell at Manchester United. After returning to Italy, he suffered an injury. He played in 178 matches for Juventus from 2012 to 2016.
He has been ruled out of France’s run to the 2022 World Cup final due to a knee injury.
Pogba helped France win the previous World Cup, scoring in the 4-2 win over Croatia in the final.
Information from Reuters and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
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