Report: Pogba to return to football in 2025 as CAS reduces doping ban

Paul Pogba’s ongoing doping ban has been reduced from four years to 18 months. 

According to DailyMail, Pogba’s sanction reduction was confirmed after a successful appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS).

The initial ruling meant the player would be out of action until 2027, but with the latest decision, Pogba is expected to return to football by March 2025.

The French World Cup winner was provisionally suspended in September 2023 by Italy’s national anti-doping tribunal following a failed drug test.

Pogba tested positive for dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), a non-endogenous testosterone metabolite prohibited by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), in the first game of the 2023/24 season.

The substance spiked elevated levels of testosterone in the footballer’s system, and a second test of his sample in October confirmed the failed drug test.

Pogba was eventually handed a four-year ban in March, and the player pledged to appeal the decision.

In the appeal judgement, CAS ruled that Pogba took DHEA accidentally, adding that the substance only enhanced the performance of female athletes.

The decision was passed in August, but the player was recently informed.

Pogba had played only eight Serie A matches for Juventus, including two since joining for his second spell at the club. He joined the club in 2022 from Manchester United, but injuries hampered his form before he was eventually ruled out by the ban.