Paul Pogba, a midfielder for Juventus and France, has been temporarily suspended following a doping test that revealed excessive testosterone levels, the Italian anti-doping agency (Nado) said AFP on Monday.
The 30-year-old’s hopes of recovering from an injury-plagued and blackmail-related season were dashed by the alleged doping offense following Juventus’ 3-0 victory over Udinese on August 20, a game in which he was an inactive substitute.
The 2018 world champion expressed his “desire to play” on Monday, saying that a “difficult year” that almost “destroyed” him had left him feeling that way. Instead he received a new blow.
Nado said Pogba had violated anti-doping rules when they found the prohibited substance “non-endogenous testosterone metabolites”.
Juventus said in a statement that Pogba had “received a precautionary suspension”.
“The club reserves the right to consider the next procedural steps,” the statement added.
The test concerns the ‘A’ sample, and if the ‘B’ sample also tests positive for testosterone Pogba could face a four-year ban.
In a message sent to AFP, Pogba’s agent Rafaela Pimenta said she was “awaiting the second sample and cannot have an opinion before the results”.
“What is certain is that Paul Pogba never wanted to break a rule,” she added.
