France international Paul Pogba has had his four-year doping ban significantly reduced to 18 months by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), allowing the World Cup-winning midfielder to return to football much earlier than anticipated. Initially facing the possibility of an early retirement, Pogba now has a clear path to resume his career, with the ruling permitting him to begin training with Juventus in January 2025 and compete in official matches by March of the same year.
Pogba’s suspension, which originally began on September 11, 2023, was imposed after he tested positive for DHEA, a banned substance commonly associated with boosting testosterone levels. The initial punishment would have kept him out of the game for four years, effectively ending his football career. However, CAS’s ruling deemed that the substance in question primarily affects females, confirming that Pogba’s use of it was inadvertent. This critical detail played a major role in the reduction of his ban.
In addition to the shortened suspension, Pogba’s original €5,000 fine has also been overturned, further easing the sanctions he faced. Mail Sport exclusively revealed that Pogba’s appeal cited an American clinic, 10X Health Systems, with photographic evidence linking the supplements he consumed to the clinic. This evidence was crucial in proving that Pogba had unknowingly ingested the banned substance.
Though neither Pogba’s representatives nor CAS have yet made official public statements on the decision, the ruling ends months of uncertainty for the 31-year-old midfielder. Football pundit Fabrizio Romano confirmed the development on X (formerly Twitter), stating, “Paul Pogba will be back to action in 2025, confirmed!” With his ban now shortened, Pogba can begin planning his return to the sport and a potential revival of his career.
