Pogba case

Court of Arbitration for Sport: “Did not deliberately dope”

According to the CAS, Paul Pogba did not deliberately dope.

(Bild: APA/AFP/Marco BERTORELLO)

Former French soccer world champion Paul Pogba did not deliberately dope, according to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). This was the reason given by the highest sports court in Lausanne for reducing the 31-year-old Juventus midfielder's doping ban from four years to 18 months. The CAS confirmed media reports on Monday about this decision, which was made days ago, but did not give any details of the reasons.

The competent body based its decision on the "evidence and legal arguments that the ingestion of DHEA, the substance for which Mr. Pogba tested positive, was not intentional", it said in a statement. The positive doping finding was the "result of the erroneous ingestion of a dietary supplement prescribed to him by a doctor in Florida".

Pogba had shown an excessively high testosterone level during a test last August after a Serie A match between Juventus and Udinese Calcio. The B sample confirmed the result. Pogba appealed against the decision to CAS and denied that he had used prohibited substances to enhance his performance. However, the competent Italian sports court had banned him for four years at the end of February.

How did Juventus react?
The footballer admitted that he had taken a dietary supplement whose package insert refers to performance-enhancing substances. The panel therefore came to the conclusion that Pogba "is not free of guilt and that he should have exercised greater care as a professional footballer in the circumstances". DHEA is a highly effective steroid hormone. It can also be misused for doping purposes.

According to CAS, the 18-month ban will apply from September 11, 2023, meaning that Pogba will be able to play soccer again from March next year. However, as reported by the "Gazzetta dello Sport", his club is currently considering legal action to terminate Pogba's contract. There was initially no official information or reaction from Juventus Turin.