Paul Pogba has his four-year ban reduced to 18 months after successful appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport

Paul Pogba’s four-year drugs ban has been reduced to 18 months following a successful appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Pogba, who tested positive for dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) in the first match of the 2023/24 season, is free to return to playing for Juventus from March next year.

Last March, the Italian National Anti-Doping Tribunal (TNA) accepted the anti-doping prosecutor’s request to impose a four-year suspension, the standard length of suspension under the World Anti-Doping Code (WADA). This meant Pogba would not return to football until March 2027.

A four-year anti-doping ban can be reduced in cases where an athlete can prove the ban was unintentional, the result of contamination, or if they can provide “substantial assistance” to help the investigators.

How was Pogba banned?

The 31-year-old was suspended as a precautionary measure in September 2023 after testing positive for dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) – a compound that promotes the production of hormones in the body, including testosterone – after the World Cup match. Juventus at Udinese on August 20.

The French international did not play in the Serie A match but was on the bench. He then made appearances as a substitute for Juventus against Bologna on August 27 and Empoli on September 3, before his suspension was announced.

Sky Sports News reported that Pogba would fight to clear his name, with his agent Rafaela Pimenta insisting “Paul never wanted to break the rules”. Pogba asked for a counter-analysis to be carried out on his positive doping test, but those results also came back positive.

In December 2023, Italian anti-doping prosecutors requested a maximum four-year suspension following his positive doping test. Pogba chose not to negotiate a plea with the anti-doping agency, meaning the case was tried in the country’s anti-doping court.

The ban started from the moment he first tested positive, so Pogba was banned until August 2027.

Pogba confirmed he would appeal the decision to the CAS in Lausanne, adding that he would tell his full story “when I am free from legal restrictions”.