Pogba’s doping hearing set for January 18

Paul Pogba will face Italy’s anti-doping tribunal on January 18 after testing positive for testosterone earlier this year, Italian media reported on Tuesday.

The Juventus and former Manchester United midfielder faces a potentially lengthy ban following the hearing at the National Anti-Doping Organisations tribunal in Rome.

Neither the tribunal nor Pogba’s representatives responded to requests for confirmation of the hearing date.

Last week anti-doping prosecutors called for Pogba, 30, to be banned for four years following his provisional suspension in September.

Pogba could cut his requested ban in half if he demonstrates that he did not intentionally dope, while he may only be suspended for a few months if he can prove the banned substance was taken out of competition and did not have an impact on his performance.

His representatives said last month that the testosterone came from a food supplement prescribed by a doctor he consulted in the United States.

AFP earlier reported in September that Pogba had been provisionally suspended after a doping control detected the banned substance testosterone, according to Italian anti-doping authorities.

“The National Anti-doping 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,” NADO said in a statement to AFP.

NADO said the “prohibited substance detected: Non-endogenous testosterone metabolites”, was consistent with a doping infringement.

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