Paul Pogba is set to return to footballing action after winning his appeal against a four-year ban by Italian anti doping agency, MySportDab reports.
Pogba had his career come to a standstill after he was banned for testing positive to doping in August 2022.
On September 11, 2023, he was slammed with a four-year ban by Italian anti-doping tribunal for intentionally using the substance.
Pogba argued he did not intentionally use the substance and appealed the judgement with the Court ot Arbitration for Sports.
Now, according to an exclusive report by The Mail, the Court of Arbitration for Sports have reduced the four-year ban initially slammed on the footballer to 18 months.
The court ruled that Pogba did not intentionally used the substance and the said drug only have effects on female athletes not male.
The report adds Pogba has been cleared to start training with Juventus from January 2025 and will return to footballing action as early as March 2025.
This means the French footballer will be back to action before the ongoing 2024-25 football season winds up.
The judgement from the Court of Arbitration for Sports is a big win for Pogba who was reportedly considering retiring from his football career due to the doping scandal and the ban.
If the CAS had upheld the ban, it is believed the footballer would have called time on his career. Now, he has a chance to give it another shot.
Meanwhile, Juventus reportedly considered terminating his contract following the doping the scandal but the player is till tied to the club till 2026 and will hope to breath life back to his career.
Reacting to the reduction of the doping ban by CAS, Pogba took to his social media handle to express his joy and readiness to get back to his game.
“Finally the nightmare is over.
”Following the decision by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, I can look forward to the day when I can follow my dreams again.
”I always stated that I never knowingly breached World Anti-Doping Agency regulations when I took a nutritional supplement prescribed to me by a doctor, which does not affect or enhance the performance of male athletes.
”I play with integrity, and although I must accept that this is a strict liability offence, I want to place on record my thanks to the Court of Arbitration for Sport’s judges who heard my explanation.
‘This has been a hugely distressing period in my life because everything I have worked so hard for has been put on hold.
‘Thank you again for all the love and support. ‘I just cannot wait to get back on the pitch,” he wrote on social media.
