Paul Pogba and Juventus were holding their breath since this symbolic date of September 11, 2023 when the announcement fell: the French midfielder had been tested for testosterone during a meeting against Udinese at the very start of the season, during which , ironically, the former Manchester United player had not even entered the field. Since then, all parties have been awaiting the results of the counter-analyses planned for the beginning of October and they have now been delivered: Paul Pogba has indeed tested positive for testosterone, as well as a backup sample today. today.
“After the result of the counter-analysis, we will make the decision with its management”had already explained Cristiano Giuntoli to the Italian newspaper La Repubblica. Even if the first step towards the sanction had already been taken: precautionary suspension by the Anti-Doping Tribunal with a minimum salary of 40,000 euros and exclusion from the professional group for training, Paul Pogba now has seven days to present his defense and his arguments in order to avoid a very heavy sanction for having violated articles 2.1 and 2.2 of the Codice Sportivo Antidoping di NADO Italia (CSA), while Italy has been very severe with doping cases recently.
Paul Pogba now has 7 days to defend himself!
The hopes of a result different from the initial counter-analysis were already greatly reduced: the National Anti-Doping Tribunal, once carried out in the presence of the expert designated by the 2018 World Champion, had to decide whether it was referred or not: the sanction in case of confirmation of the positive result varies from two to four years, provided that the player is able to demonstrate that the hiring was involuntary. We will now have to wait for the arguments of the former Red Devils player as well as the investigation carried out by Mr. Pierfilippo Laviani, which begins today, in order to know the official sanction.
As a reminder, the product in question was taken in the United States during an off-season. Paul Pogba accepted, on the advice of a doctor friend, the taking of this supplement containing testosterone: a misstep also admitted by the footballer to Juventus doctors, despite the warning on the packaging containing the presence of substances which could have resulted in a positive control. However, there remains a flaw which could allow Pogba a reduction in sentence: testosterone is a false myth, its intake does not improve sporting performance, even if its presence in an athlete’s anti-doping controls is strongly punished.
After trying to assess a possible formal defect, which could have changed the fate of the case, Pogba’s entourage, who turned to an English law firm, changed their defense strategy: Ignorance of the hiring cannot completely exonerate the Frenchman, but it could affect the sentence. Testosterone, as already mentioned, does not affect sports performance but is part of a world, that of physical culture, which has little to do with football. An error which costs Pogba dearly but which does not presuppose an attempt to voluntarily improve sporting performance. So many arguments that the French international will inevitably highlight to avoid a terrible end to his career…
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