Juventus midfielder, Paul Pogba, 30, is facing a ban of up to four years after testing positive for testosterone.
Pogba only returned to the Serie A side from Manchester United in July 2022.
However, the move has not gone as planned, as he has also struggled with inj¥ries.
In the latest development, Pogba is reported to have tested positive after a league fixture against Udinese on August 20, a game in which he did not play.
Pogba has now been suspended by Italy’s national anti-doping (NADO) tribunal on an initial precautionary basis and has three days to request a B sample.
“The National Antidoping Tribunal informs that, in acceptance of the instance proposed by the National Antidoping Prosecutor, it has provided for the provisional suspension of the athlete Paul Labile Pogba,” NADO said in a statement to AFP. NADO said the “prohibited substance detected: Non-endogenous testosterone metabolites”, was consistent with a doping infringement.
The maximum suspension in such cases is four years, which includes an initial two-year ban, which can be doubled if it is proven that the substance was taken deliberately.
However, in an interview with Al Jazeera, released hours before news broke of Pogba’s doping test, the midfielder said: “I want to make people eat their words and prove I am not weak. People can criticise me, but I will never give up.
At times, when I have been alone, I have thought: I don’t want to have money anymore. I don’t want to play football any longer. I want to be with normal people, that way they’ll love me for who I am, not for money or fame. At times it’s hard. Money changes people and can destr#y a family, it can create a w@r.”
