Paul Pogba can once again look to the future with a smile. Suspended 4 years for testing positive for testosterone in the summer of 2023, the player saw his sentence reduced to 18 months by the Court of Arbitration for Sport last week. In other words, while he could have resumed competition in 2027, his return to collective training is planned for January 2025, before resuming competition two months later, in March. In the Juventus jersey? It’s a possibility, he who is still under contract until 2026. “We will talk about it in the coming weeks» he confides to RMC.
The 2018 world champion has been on a media tour since the announcement of his anticipated return to the field. He tries in vain to make up for the lost time of his good years, he who is now 31 years old. Forbidden to speak in the Juventus premises, the Frenchman had to coach himself, alone with his demons and his regrets, but surrounded by a few close friends. “We were definitely in a dark pit. This hallway was difficult for me. But the truth is out and it’s true that a light is coming on» indicates the native of Lagny-sur-Marne in the columns of The Team this Wednesday evening.
“When you are suspended, everything is taken away from you»
Of course, he touched the ball during matches with friends, which today allows him to have an enormous hunger for competition. He admits: “I missed football a lot.» The game but also his status as a professional player, everything was taken away from him in one fell swoop. “I was on standby. It wasn’t all up to me. I was so confused. I didn’t know how to position myself. When you are suspended, everything is taken away from you, all your functions. Honestly, it was like I wasn’t a footballer anymore. I was on break. I always felt like a footballer but there was this situation.»
This suspension which cost him so much, he who had already suffered some low blows in previous months such as this withdrawal for the 2022 World Cup. He even thought about stopping his career. “It took me ten years, like I always say.» He claims to have gained a lot of experience during this crossing of the desert. 18 months without a field which could have easily been avoided, by not taking this famous product which condemned him for doping, tarnishing his image in the process. “I didn’t blame anyone. It’s an ordeal that I obviously don’t want to relive, but I’m going to keep the idea that it made me grow.»
“You wonder when it’s going to stop»
Right in his boots, he considers himself more victim than responsible, even if he recognizes his negligence, that of having wanted to trust a person who called himself professional in his terms. “The hardest part was understanding why this was happening to me.details Pogba who found a refuge in religion. If you don’t have faith, it’s hard. Because you wonder when it’s going to stop. When you have faith, you continue to believe in something you don’t see. That’s what helped me stay upright.» Today, he is ready to resume his passion and his career better armed than ever.
