ROME (ITALPRESS) – How the outcome of a ruling can make a sportsman sink and then be reborn is something Paul Pogba knows very well. The French midfielder, still under contract with Juventus, had been in the eye of the storm for the doping case that saw him face a four-year disqualification from the playing fields after the Aug. 20, 2023 match against Udinese, putting a serious mortgage on his playing career. Testosterone metabolites the components of the supplement taken by the 2018 world champion, first detected by post-match doping test and later also by counter-analysis. A fate that seemed already written, but to which Pogba certainly did not give up, with the Tas then recently reducing his disqualification to just 18 months, thus allowing him to return to training with Juventus starting in January 2025 and being able to officially return to the field from March. “I take some responsibility for what happened, but a four-year disqualification would have been unfair.” These are the words of the former Manchester United man, who returned to speak to the microphones of ‘Sky Sports News’ regarding the well-known events but also with respect to his now imminent return to the field. “I did not do the proper checks on the label of the supplement, but this had been given to me by a professional and therefore I could not imagine what was inside. People know me, they know who Paul is, and they know that I could never have taken a doping substance. I am an honest person and if I had really doped intentionally I would have had no problem admitting it, but that was not the case. I am not a cheater,” Pogba says, “but a person who loves the game of soccer and would never cheat because he doesn’t like to win in a dishonest way. The closeness of people, his wife and family, as well as friends, colleagues and others. This is the crucial factor that has allowed Pogba not to resign, despite “thinking about the possibility of retiring,” he still confesses to the British media. “I definitely received a lot of messages and support, from my friends and of course from my wife, spending a lot of time with her and my children, something I was not used to. I have to say that this situation allowed me to see my children grow up, to be a good father and to spend time with my family, which certainly helped me get back on my feet. Some days I was really sick, it was definitely a difficult time.” The light at the end of the tunnel seems to be visible for the class ’93, who at the age of 31 could open a new cycle of his career in the place that most of all has consecrated him as a footballer: “I have only one desire, to play soccer,” Pogba told the ‘Gazzetta dello Sport’. I would like to return to training and play with Juventus, because I am still a Bianconeri player and to date that is all there is in my head. Thiago Motta? I haven’t had a chance to talk to him yet, but the field will show how things are, with the coach then having to judge with his own eyes based on what he sees. I want to play for Juventus, and to do so I am also willing to give up money. It doesn’t all depend on me of course, but also on the club’s plans. I want to reach the level of the other players, to keep up with the team. I am a Juventus player and I will prepare to play with it. As for France, I also want to return there,” he concludes, “with a dream that is the World Cup, for which I will have to be the one to open my door to Deschamps, who advised me to keep working. – Photo Ipa Agency -(ITALPRESS).
