Paul Pogba Set To Return In March 2025

 Paul Pogba’s four-year ban for a doping offense has been significantly reduced to 18 months following his successful appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

According to BBC Sport, sources close to the 31-year-old Juventus midfielder informed them that he is set to resume training in January 2025 and will be eligible to return to play by March.

Pogba, a France international, faced suspension from Italy’s national anti-doping tribunal (NADO) in February after a drugs test revealed elevated levels of testosterone in his system. Testosterone is a hormone known to enhance endurance, making the positive result particularly concerning. CAS director general Matthieu Reeb confirmed to Reuters that the ban had been officially reduced to 18 months, effective from September 11, 2023.

The former Manchester United midfielder took his case to CAS, where he provided evidence in person during a hearing earlier this summer. He has consistently maintained that he would “never knowingly or deliberately” use performance-enhancing drugs and believed the original verdict was “incorrect.” If the initial four-year ban had remained in place, the 2018 World Cup winner would have been unable to play until 2027, at which point he would be 34 years old.

Pogba was provisionally suspended in September 2023 after a random test conducted following Juventus’ first match of the 2023-24 season on August 20. The positive result was confirmed by NADO in a second sample taken in October, leading to the anti-doping prosecutor’s office requesting a four-year suspension.

At the time of the initial suspension, Pogba’s agent, Rafaela Pimenta, stated that “Paul Pogba never wanted to break a rule.” Pogba had rejoined Juventus on a four-year contract in July 2022 after his stint at Manchester United, where he spent six years before leaving as a free agent.

Unfortunately, his return to Turin has been marred by ongoing injury issues, which also caused him to miss the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. During the 2022-23 season, he managed only 162 minutes across five appearances and had played just 51 minutes as a substitute in the current campaign before his suspension.