Juventus midfielder Paul Pogba has been provisionally suspended by Italy’s national anti-doping tribunal after returning an adverse sample.
The France international tested positive for testosterone in a random drugs test following Juventus’ Serie A game against Udinese on August 20, when he was an unused substitute.
After the Italian anti-doping body issued a statement on Monday evening confirming Pogba’s suspension, Juventus said the club would now consider “the next procedural steps”.
If found guilty of doping, a suspension of between two and four years could be handed out to Pogba.
“Juventus Football Club announces that today, September 11, 2023, the footballer Paul Labile Pogba received a precautionary suspension order from the National Anti-Doping Tribunal following the results of tests carried out on August 20, 2023,” a statement from the Serie A side read.
“The club reserves the right to consider the next procedural steps.”
Italy’s national anti-doping tribunal confirmed Pogba’s positive sample for testosterone.
A statement from the anti-doping body read: “The National Antidoping Tribunal informs that, in acceptance of the instance proposed by the National Antidoping Prosecutor, it has provided for the provisional suspension of the athlete: Paul Labile Pogba (FIGC) for the violation of articles 2.1, 2.2; prohibited substance detected: Non-endogenous testosterone metabolites (The GC/c/IRMS results are consistent with the exogenous origin of the target compounds).”
Earlier on Monday, former Manchester United midfielder Pogba said he was almost driven to walk away from football after allegedly being blackmailed by an organised crime gang.
The 30-year-old’s brother Mathias was detained in September 2022 on suspicion of involvement in the alleged plot, which Paul Pogba claimed amounted to a bid to extort £11.1million from him.
Mathias Pogba was released in December and denies the charges.
Paul Pogba reported the incident to Turin prosecutors in July of last year, shortly after leaving Manchester United on a free transfer in order to rejoin Juventus.
Speaking to Al Jazeera, Paul Pogba said: “When there is money you have to be careful. Money changes people. It can break up a family. It can create a war.
“Sometimes I was just by myself thinking: ‘I don’t want to have money anymore. I just don’t want to play anymore. I just want to be with normal people, so they will love me for me – not for the fame, not for the money.’
“Sometimes it’s tough. This life, you have to go through it. It will only make me stronger.”
Laure Beccuau, a Paris prosecutor, said the investigation was looking into allegations of “blackmail by an armed gang, kidnapping and membership of a criminal conspiracy”.
Mathias Pogba is himself a professional footballer, with the 33-year-old having represented Crewe, Crawley, Wrexham and Partick Thistle, as well as the national team of Guinea.
He is currently without a club after leaving French lower-league side Belfort in 2022.
Sassuolo 1-0 Inter: Serie A champions suffer surprise defeat
Inter suffered only their second defeat in Serie A this season as a first-half goal by Armand Lauriente gave relegation-threatened Sassuolo a crucial 1-0 victory.
Sassuolo have a unique hold over Simone Inzaghi's side this season, as the only team to beat Inter in the league, having secured a 2-1 victory in the reverse fixture in September.
The result was a big boost in Sassuolo's battle against relegation, as they sit second from bottom on 29 points, with only three points between them and Cagliari in 14th place.
Lauriente got the only goal of the match after 20 minutes when Josh Doig managed to wrestle the ball back from Denzel Dumfries near the corner flag and pulled it back, with Sassuolo's matchwinner on hand to slot into the net from close range.
Data Debrief: Long time coming
This was the first time Inter have lost a league match against a team in the bottom two of the standings since way back in November 2014. On that occasion, they went down 2-0 to Parma.
Lauriente, meanwhile, has scored four Serie A goals since the beginning of April, a joint-record in the period in the top-flight (level with Hakan Calhanoglu).
Shaw reveals how advice from former Man City stalwarts Bronze, Sterling assisted her to settle at the club
After struggling to find her footing when she just arrived at Manchester City, Jamaica international Khadija 'Bunny' Shaw, revealed that it was the advice of Lucy Bronze and Raheem Sterling, coupled with hard work, that assisted in her now being the club's record goalscorer.
Since her transfer from Bordeaux in 2021, Shaw has cemented her status as one of the game’s most clinical strikers during her spell with Gareth Taylor's side so far. In the process, she smashed a number of records, including most goals scored by a Manchester City women’s player in a single season -31 in the 2022-23 campaign -before becoming the club's all-time leading goalscorer with 72 goals overall.
However, she wasn't always confident that she would have accomplished those feats, as she pointed out how guidance from former Manchester City pair Bronze and Sterling put her on the path to history in sky blue, after a difficult early period at the Joie Stadium.
“When I came here initially, I was struggling a bit,” Shaw revealed on The Women's Game Podcast with Sam Mewis.
“One day I was coming in from training and Lucy [Bronze] was coming in as well and she asked, ‘are you okay?’ and I said ‘I just can’t get the way they play, I can’t get it right’. City play a specific type of way and I was saying when we were walking in from training ‘I cannot get this right’. I didn’t know if here was for me.
“She started laughing and she was like ‘you focus on what got you here, the bits you do well that got you here, there’s something they saw in you that got you here’. At that moment I was like ‘wow’. I then called Raheem [Sterling] and I said the same thing to him. He was just laughing and said, ‘when I came from Liverpool I struggled a bit, they play a certain way so trust the process, believe in what you’re doing and believe in yourself’," she added.
From there, the 26-year-old Shaw said she continued to put in the work, both on and off the field until her performances came together.
“I put the comments from both Lucy and Raheem together and it made sense. I told myself to continue working and watching the videos, see how I could improve my game and seeing how best I can help the team. By doing that, it helped a little better day-by-day. Couple of weeks later I called Raheem and said, ‘it’s working!’ He was laughing and said, ‘I told you, you’ve just got to believe in yourself and do all the right things and focus on you first and foremost before you can focus on anything else’," Shaw shared.
Although her 2023/24 campaign was cut short due to a broken foot, Shaw will finish the campaign with 22 goals and five assists. And she credits her sparkling City success to her dedication on the City Football Academy training pitch.
“I just kept at it and believing in myself. The confidence comes from scoring goals and as the games come, I’m thriving," she ended.
Girona 4-2 Barcelona: Hosts secure Champions League football while ending Blaugrana's title hopes
Girona beat Barcelona 4-2 to secure Champions League qualification and gift Real Madrid their 36th LaLiga title.
Madrid, who have lost only once in the league this season, hold a 13-point advantage over second-placed Girona, while Barca dropped to third after Saturday's loss.
The victory saw Girona seal European football for the first time in their history.
A brace from substitute Portu helped LaLiga's surprise package Girona to humble their Catalan rivals.
Andreas Christiansen scored in the third minute to give Barca the lead but Girona hit back a minute later, with LaLiga's top scorer Artem Dovbyk heading in the equaliser.
Robert Lewandowski put the visitors back ahead from the penalty spot just before the break.
However, in his first action after coming off the bench, Portu restored parity before Miguel Gutierrez scored from a rebound two minutes later to turn the match on its head.
And that paved the way for a stunning volley from Portu in the 74th minute to secure the win.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
