Former Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba has been handed a four-year ban from football after failing a drugs test last August.
The France international tested positive for testosterone after Juventus’s first game of the season against Udinese, and was given his hefty punishment by an anti-doping prosecutor’s office in Italy on Thursday.
Pogba’s lawyers had rejected a plea deal and hoped to get their client a lighter sentence after claiming that he had accidentally ingested the substance that caused the positive test. However, the prosecution did not believe Pogba’s defence, and he has now been given a ban that could potentially end his career.
Speaking at the time of the initial suspension, Pogba’s agent, Rafaela Pimenta, said: “What is certain is that Paul Pogba never wanted to break a rule.”
Testosterone is a hormone that increases the endurance of athletes.
Pogba will turn 31 next month, meaning he would not be able to return to the pitch until he is almost 35.
