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There was good news this week for former Manchester United star Paul Pogba after his four-year ban from football was reduced to 18 months.
Pogba failed an anti-doping test at his current club, Juventus, last year. Given that the ban would take him to 2027, when he would be 34 years old, it effectively signalled the end of the World Cup winner’s career at the top level of football.
The player has been fighting since to clear his name, claiming that the finding that he had in his system “testosterone not produced by the body” in August, 2023 was incorrect.
Pogba “will consequently be allowed to return to first-team training in January 2025 and be eligible to return to competitive action two months later in March when his 18-month ban concludes,” reports The Athletic, meaning that the “Octopus” could be back in action this season.
However, the Frenchman’s number 10 shirt has already been reassigned to Kenan Yildiz, and he has not played since September 2023, so whether he will be put back in the Juventus squad at that stage remains to be seen.
The United academy graduate said: “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.”
Pogba has always been a divisive player among United fans. To a large extent he never lived up to his full potential or his massive €105 million price tag when he was re-signed in 2016 from the Old Lady. But on his day, it is fair to say that the man from Lagny-sur-Marne played football that was amongst the best ever seen at Old Trafford in the modern era.
However one may judge him, to end such an illustrious career in such an ignominious way would have been cruel and sad.
United fans will be delighted to see the final chapter rewritten to one that may even conclude in silverware and glory, at least one more time.
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