This is the big news this Thursday, February 29, 2024. After several months of waiting and preventive suspension, Paul Pogba (30 years old) received a four-year suspension by the Italian courts for having violated articles 2.1 and 2.2 of the Codice Sportivo Antidoping di NADO Italia (CSA). A few moments later, the Juventus midfielder reacted on his Instagram account to contest this decision.
Pogba intends to fight and has already announced that he will appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). “As a professional athlete, I would never do anything to enhance my performance by using banned substances and I have never disrespected or cheated other athletes and fans of the teams I played for, or against whom I played. As a result of the decision announced today, I will appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.” It is now Didier Deschamps’ turn to react. The man who gave Pogba his first cap in March 2013 has not forgotten a player who has not been with the Blues since 2022.
Deschamps sad for Pogba
“I don’t imagine for a single moment that Paul had the intention, the desire, to take drugs. To know him well, I know that this is not at all in his state of mind. Now there are the facts and what the two samples taken reveal. The presence of the illicit hormone is indisputable. The problem is there and Paul will have to lead a new fight to defend himself, before the Court of Arbitration for Sport and convince the judges that he did not knowingly take prohibited products.he declared, before concluding.
“Like the sentence handed down this Thursday by the Italian Anti-Doping Court, what Paul has been going through for several months is extremely hard and I obviously cannot remain indifferent to his sentence, given everything he has achieved in selection and the relationships we have established in the French team. Her situation saddens me and I sincerely hope that she can get better. In any case, I want to believe it. » As a reminder, Pogba with the Blues is 91 caps, 11 goals scored, a lost Euro final (2016), a World Cup (2018) and a Nations League (2021).
