Paul Pogba was suspended for four years on Thursday after testing positive for testosterone. Before him, six French internationals, convicted of doping, had suffered the same fate for various reasons, from cannabis to amphetamines via nandrolone.
Stéphane Paille (Mulhouse, 1995)
Stéphane Paille (30), center forward hired as unemployed by Mulhouse at the end of summer 1995, tested positive in September and was suspended for two months, the test having revealed traces of cannabis.
In May 1997, the player who then played for Heart of Midlothian was excluded by his Scottish club immediately after having been suspended for four months by the Scottish Federation for having taken a banned product, Dinitel, a drug containing notably amphetamines, in order to lose a excess weight. This affair will mark the end of his career, he who will have 8 selections for the Blues to his credit.
Fabien Barthez (Monaco, 1995)
In October 1995, after the Nantes-Monaco match, and shortly after his return from injury (fractured wrist), Fabien Barthez (24), Monaco goalkeeper, tested positive for cannabis. He was suspended, from mid-January 1996, for four months, including two months, by the Federation’s Doping Control Commission.
The 1993 European champion with OM chose not to appeal this sanction and missed eight days of the Championship. In 1998, the future world champion confided: “I always keep everything to myself. I prefer to stay in my corner, relaxed…” before continuing: “The 8 p.m. news which opens with “Barthez, stoner”, while there are dead people everywhere”…
Bernard Lama (PSG, 1997)
In February 1997, Bernard Lama (33 years old), PSG goalkeeper, tested positive for cannabis during the training camp preceding France – Netherlands (his only match with the Blues during 1997) during a test unannounced by the Ministry of Youth and Sports. In May, he was sentenced by the FFF Doping Control Commission to a five-month suspension, including two firm ones, which he must serve during the Championship.
Dismissed by his club in the off-season, he found playing time at West Ham in January 1998. In time to participate in the World Cup but as number 2. In the meantime, Lama saw Fabien Barthez and Lionel Charbonnier succeed each other at his post with the Blues and “the divine bald” pass him by.
Cyrille Pouget (Le Havre, 1997)
In September 1997, after Bordeaux – Le Havre, Cyrille Pouget (24 years old) tested positive for nandrolone. He was suspended on July 2, 1998 for eighteen months, of which six months was suspended. Throughout the appeals, he continues to train, play and think: “Not a day, not a week goes by without me thinking about this matter. She disturbs me. Especially since it keeps bouncing in all directions. One day it’s all good, the next day it’s all bad…”
In one season, Pouget learns to live day by day. He is no longer offended by the rumors that frequently remove him from the match sheets because he is said to be “on the verge of being suspended”. In September 1998, the CNOSF conciliation commission rejected his request for conciliation and “reactivated” his suspension. He will return to the field, with the HAC, in February 1999.
Vincent Guérin (PSG, 1997)
In October 1997, Parisian midfielder Vincent Guérin (29 years old) tested positive for nandrolone during Nantes – Paris-SG before playing the last European match of his career on November 5, 1997 against Bayern (3-1) in phase of groups. Fifteen days earlier in Munich (1-5), he should have played too but was put on the substitutes’ bench at the last minute so as not to take any risks. He was suspended on January 8, 1998 for eighteen months, of which six months were suspended.
He only served three and a half months of sentence because the FFF’s decision was annulled in July 1998. In April 2000, the Paris administrative court of appeal canceled the control of the then “retired” player, after a 1998 season. -1999 with Heart of Midlothian (Scotland). He will play again in November 2001 with Red Star (CFA).
Samir Nasri (Seville, 2016)
In December 2016, Samir Nasri (29), a Sevilla FC midfielder on vacation in Los Angeles, published on Twitter a photo of himself accompanied by a member of the medical staff who had given him vitamins by injection. An initiative, following an alleged gastro, which is not to the liking of the Spanish anti-doping agency which is opening an investigation. This type of treatment is not prohibited but is regulated. A tolerance is accepted by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) as long as it does not concern a “prohibited product and does not exceed 50 milliliters”.
In February 2018, without a club since his departure from Antalyaspor in Turkey, Nasri was suspended by UEFA for six months. He faced four years. In August 2018, UEFA increased the suspension from six to eighteen months on appeal. Nasri will play again on January 12, 2019 with West Ham.
