Juventus midfielder Paul Pogba has been provisionally suspended by Italy’s anti-doping tribunal (Nado) after testing positive for testosterone metabolites.
The France World Cup winner could potentially face up to four years suspended – a maximum penalty – from football if Nado finds Pogba’s B-sample returns positive and finds he took the performance-enhancing drug deliberately.
According to Nado, Pogba’s A-sample came back with “non-endogenous testosterone metabolites” and “consistent with the exogenous origin of the target of the compounds”.
The A-sample returned positive after Juventus’ 3-0 victory away to Udinese on 20 August, in which he did not play.
The former Manchester United midfielder’s provisional suspension was confirmed by Juventus last Monday (11 September).
A Juventus statement revealed: “Juventus Football Club announces that today, September 11, 2023, the footballer Paul Labile Pogba received a precautionary suspension order from the National Anti-Doping Tribunal following the results of tests carried out on August 20, 2023. The club reserves the right to consider the next procedural steps.”
In the immediate aftermath upon hearing of Pogba’s provisional suspension, his agent, Rafaela Pimenta, is “certain” that the France international “never wanted to break a rule” and is awaiting a second sample to return and “cannot have an opinion before the results”.
Pogba has three days from the date of his provisional suspension to submit a B-sample, after which will determine whether he may face a lengthy suspension.
The most recent case of a player failing a doping test in Italy was Atalanta centre-back Jose Luis Palomino, who tested positive for the steroid clostebol, with a potential ban overturned due to a negative B-sample.
Since his return to Italy in the summer of 2022, Pogba has struggled to find game time due to injuries, only making eight appearances for the Old Lady to date.
