ROME: Italy’s national anti-doping tribunal said Monday that it has suspended Juventus and France midfielder Paul Pogba as a precautionary measure after he tested positive for “testosterone not of endogenous origin.”
The positive test pertains to a sample that Pogba provided after Juve’s opening game of the Serie A season away at Udinese last month, sources told Italian news agency ANSA.
The Turin giants won the game in Udine 3-0.
Pogba, 30, did not play in the match but he did take the field in the subsequent games against Bologna and Empoli.
The shocking news comes as Pogba appeared to be emerging from a challenging period in his professional and personal life.
He was dogged by injury problems last season after returning to Juve from Manchester United and was also the victim of attempted extortion allegedly involving his brother Mathias.
“Money changes people and it can destroy a family. It can create a war,” he told Al Jazeera.
“Sometimes when I was alone I used to think ‘I don’t want to have money anymore, I don’t want to play football anymore’.
“Now I want to make the critics eat their words and show that I’m not weak. I’ll never give up,” he said. – BERNAMA-ANSA
