Juventus terminate Pogba’s contract despite doping ban reduction

Serie A club Juventus have terminated the contract of France midfielder Paul Pogba despite having his doping ban reduced to 18 months on appeal.

Juventus announced the termination of Pogba’s contract with the club via a statement on Friday.

Pogba will be able to return to competitive football in March 2025 after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) chopped last month an initial four-year suspension handed down by the Italian anti-doping authority NADO.

Juventus have however decided to cut ties with the 31-year-old midfielder, whose return to Turin from Manchester United in 2022 was ruined by a string of problems on and off the pitch.

Juventus said the club and Pogba “have reached a mutual agreement for the termination of their contract as of 30 November 2024.”

“The club wishes Paul the very best for his professional future,” the club added.

His contract had been due to expire in 2026.

Speaking to Juventus fans on social media, Pogba said: “You gave me a lot, more than what I could ever say, and I’ll always keep with me the love you showed me.

‘Nightmare over’: Pogba speaks on drug ban cut

“You’ll always be in my heart. Good luck.”

Pogba had said in October that he was “willing to give up money to be able to play again with Juve”, an appeal which fell on deaf ears at the “Old Lady” of Italian football.

Pogba, a World Cup winner with France in 2018, started just one match after rejoining Juventus – with whom he won four Serie A titles between 2012 and 2016 – in the summer of 2022.

He last played for Juventus at Empoli in September 2023, not long before he was provisionally suspended for testing positive for testosterone.

That test came following Juventus’ opening Serie A fixture of last season, a 3-0 win at Udinese in which he didn’t even play.

He was then banned for four years by NADO in February, a sanction which put his career at risk before CAS reduced his punishment.

CAS accepted Pogba’s argument that the failed test “was the result of erroneously taking a supplement prescribed to him by a medical doctor in Florida”.

However, CAS did not completely exonerate Pogba as he “was not without fault” and as a professional football player, “he should have paid greater care in the circumstances”.

During the 2022-23 season, Pogba made just 10 appearances for Juventus, mainly due to a knee injury that also ruled him out of the World Cup in Qatar where France lost out to Argentina in the final in December 2022.

He was also the victim of a case of organised extortion, for which six men, including his brother Mathias, have been ordered to stand trial.

Juventus currently sit sixth in Serie A but are only two points behind league leaders Napoli and face AC Milan at the San Siro after the international break.

The Star