Top five longest football bans in history ft. Mykhailo Mudryk & Paul Pogba

Mykhailo Mudryk was handed a four-year ban due to doping

Chelsea’s pre-season friendly against Juventus on August 5, 2026, saw a major milestone for the London side, as Ukrainian winger Mykhailo Mudryk made his first appearance for the Blues after almost two years.

Mudryk, who joined Chelsea from Shakhtar Donetsk in 2023, was handed a four-year ban for doping violations in October 2024. It marked a massive setback for the young attacker’s career.

However, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) recently changed its reporting standards, clearing Mudryk to return to the football pitch. He was given an outing by Xabi Alonso in the pre-season friendly against the Bianconeri, marking his professional return after a long period of 615 days.

Let’s look at some of the longest football suspensions handed out so far.

Paolo Guerrero – 14 months

Peruvian footballer Paolo Guerrero was handed a 12-month ban by FIFA for testing positive for benzoylecgonine, a banned substance. It was initially reduced to six months by the global footballing body, but the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) accepted an argument by WADA that the initial ruling was too lenient. As a result, the ban was extended to 14 months.

The interesting part came before the 2018 FIFA World Cup, with the Swiss Federal Tribunal pausing his ban for the tournament. Having represented Peru in Russia, he served the rest of his ban, returning to active play in April 2019.

Diego Maradona – 15 months

Diego Maradona simply had to feature in this list. The maverick Argentine is considered one of the finest players to grace the game, but he suffered from substance abuse issues throughout his career.

In 1991, he tested positive for cocaine while playing for Napoli and was handed a 15-month suspension. As a result, he left the Italian side for Sevilla. The second and final suspension of his career came during Argentina’s 1994 FIFA World Cup campaign. He tested positive for ephedrine, a banned substance, and was handed his 15-month suspension, effectively ending his career.

Paul Pogba – 18 months

Following his disappointing spell at Manchester United, Paul Pogba moved to Juventus to restart his career. However, he tested positive for non-endogenous testosterone in September 2023, with another sample in February 2024 also testing positive. As a result, he was handed a four-year ban.

An intervention by the CAS saw the ban reduced to 18 months. However, his Juventus contract was cancelled, and he moved to Monaco. His long-awaited return came in November 2025, ending a nearly 26-month absence from football.

Samir Nasri – 18 months

Samir Nasri was found guilty of a doping violation in the most bizarre of manners, testing positive for an assortment of banned substances after an IV drip session that involved him cheating on his then-girlfriend. The French forward was initially handed a six-month ban, but it was extended to 18 months after an appeal by UEFA.

He was eventually allowed to return to training in November 2018 and made his professional return in January 2019, playing in a league match against West Ham United.

Mykhailo Mudryk – 20 months

It could have been so much worse for Mudryk, who was initially handed a four-year ban by WADA, which could have spelt the end of his career. However, Chelsea continued to support their player, and a change in WADA’s testing standards meant that Mudryk would not have been found in violation of the anti-doping rules had the incident occurred today.

As a result, his ban was overturned, allowing him to play against Juventus after 615 days or more than 20 months.

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