"I don’t believe for a minute that Pogba intended to or wanted to dope," says France coach Didier Deschamps over 4 year doping ban

Pogba has been banned for four years for taking testosterone booster

Didier Deschamps, the manager of France, expressed his shock at Paul Pogba’s (30) four-year doping punishment. Juventus midfielder Paul Pogba, who has been suspended since September 11 after testing positive for a prohibited drug on August 20, was given a four-year sentence on Thursday. In response to the announcement, the Frenchman said he would be challenging the decision.

“I am sad, shocked and heartbroken that everything I have built in my professional playing career has been taken away from me,” reacted the former Manchester United midfielder, who added that he will be appealing through the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

Paul Pogba has probably worn the France national team’s Bleu shirt for the final time in his career. He has been a mainstay for Deschamps since joining Les Bleus in 2013, and the coach has awarded him 91 caps.

In that time, he scored 11 goals and was a key member of the team that won the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

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“I don’t believe for a minute that Pogba intended to or wanted to dope. Knowing him well, I know that is not how he is.”

Just like the judgement announced by the Italian anti-doping tribunal on Thursday, what Paul has experienced these past months has been extremely difficult and I can’t be insensitive to his pain, given what he has done with the national team and the relationships that have been formed with the France national team,” began Deschamps in a reaction, transcribed by L’Équipe.

“His situation saddens me and I really hope that things will work out. I want to believe that in any case […] the presence of an illegal hormone is incontestable. That’s the problem for Paul and he will have to lead a fight to defend himself,” Deschamps added.

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