The career of French midfielder Paul Pogba at Juventus, Italy’s most successful football club, has come to an end. On Friday, Juventus announced that it would terminate his contract at the end of November, despite the reduction of his doping suspension from 4 years to 18 months after an appeal.
Pogba will be eligible to return to play in March 2025, after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) reduced the initial 4-year suspension imposed by the Italian Anti-Doping Agency (NADO) in September 2023, following a positive test for dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) in August 2023.
However, Juventus decided to sever ties with the 31-year-old player, whose return to Turin from Manchester United has been marred by a series of on-field and off-field problems.
The club stated in a statement: “Juventus Turin and Paul Pogba have agreed to terminate his contract starting from November 30.”
Pogba had declared last month that he was “willing to forgo money in order to play again for Juventus,” but his request was not met by the club’s officials.
Juventus’ decision to end Pogba’s contract is not surprising, as coach Thiago Motta and sporting director Cristiano Giuntoli had repeatedly referred to Pogba in the past tense, saying he “was a great player.”
Since his return to Juventus in July 2022, after six seasons at Manchester United, Pogba has played only 12 matches (213 minutes) for the club due to a serious knee injury.
Pogba’s last match with Juventus was against Empoli in September of the previous year, just before his temporary suspension due to the positive test.
The test was conducted after Juventus’ opening match of the season, where they won 3-0 against Udinese, a match in which Pogba did not play.
He was then suspended for 4 years by the Italian Anti-Doping Agency in February, a penalty that jeopardized his career before the Court of Arbitration for Sport reduced his sentence.
