France’s national football coach Didier Deschamps has sympathy for former world champion Paul Pogba, who could be facing the end of his professional career in top international football after a positive doping test. “I am saddened by his situation and I hope with all my heart that it will get better. I definitely want to believe in it,” said 55-year-old Deschamps in a statement carried by several French media outlets: “Of course I cannot remain untouched by his pain, considering what he has achieved in the national team.”
Pogba wants to appeal
The 30-year-old Pogba from Juventus Turin was banned for four years by the Italian sports court on Thursday. Pogba tested positive for testosterone in August after a Serie A game between Juventus and Udinese Calcio. The B sample confirmed the result. Pogba will appeal to the Cas International Court of Arbitration for Sport in Switzerland, as the footballer announced shortly after the verdict was announced on Thursday.
“I can’t imagine for a moment that Paul had the intention or the will to dope,” said Deschamps: “Since I know him well, I know that this doesn’t correspond to his way of thinking at all.” But now there is also that Facts. “The presence of the illicit hormone is undeniable,” said Deschamps: “The problem is there and Paul will have to fight a new battle to defend himself and convince the judges that he did not knowingly take banned substances.”
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Pogba, World Champion in Russia in 2018 under Deschamps, had been temporarily excluded from playing since the beginning of September. He also admitted to taking a food supplement whose package leaflet mentioned performance-enhancing substances. Pogba reacted in shock to the verdict on Thursday. “I was informed of the decision today and I believe the verdict is wrong. “I am sad, shocked and heartbroken that everything I have built up in my professional career has been taken away from me,” the midfielder wrote on Instagram.
