Juventus midfielder Paul Pogba expressed relief on Friday after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) reduced his doping ban from four years to 18 months.
The decision allows the 31-year-old to return to action by March 2025 potentially.
Pogba was initially sanctioned by Italy’s National Anti-Doping Tribunal in March after a provisional suspension was imposed in September 2022 following a positive test for dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA).
Following the ruling, Pogba said, “Finally, the nightmare is over. I look forward to the day I can follow my dreams again.”
He emphasised that he never knowingly violated World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) regulations, asserting that he took a nutritional supplement prescribed by a doctor that does not enhance male athletes’ performance.
“I play with integrity and, although I must accept that this is a strict liability offence, I want to place on record my thanks to the Court of Arbitration for Sport’s judges who heard my explanation,” he added.
Pogba described the experience as “a hugely distressing period in my life because everything I have worked so hard for has been put on hold.”
The initial ban was a standard length set by the World Anti-Doping Code, but athletes can have their penalties reduced if they can demonstrate that the breach was unintentional, the result of contamination, or if they provide “substantial assistance” to investigators.
CAS Director General Matthieu Reeb confirmed to The Guardian that Pogba’s new suspension is effective September 11, 2023.
