France boss Deschamps defends Juventus star Paul Pogba over doping test allegation

Paul Pogba has failed to get his career going at Juventus following his move from Manchester United to the Italian club in the summer of 2022 

France head coach Didier Deschamps has defended his French player and Juventus star Paul Pogba over the ongoing doping allegation, Soccernet.ng reports.

The 30-year-old made an exciting return to Juventus from Manchester United in the summer of 2022, but the move has not worked yet for the player, who had to battle injuries and blackmail mostly throughout last season.

Pogba has since made a return to the Bianconeri squad, playing 2 games from their 3 Serie A matches played so far this season before a recent failed doping test allegation is looking to derail a comeback season for the Frenchman.

It was revealed this week that the former Manchester United star has failed a doping test after being subjected to a test following Juventus’ game at Udinese on August 20. Despite remaining on the bench throughout the Serie A clash, the midfielder was chosen at random by doping officers.

On Monday, Juventus confirmed that Pogba has been suspended and as a result, has not been in training with the rest of the team.

Juventus would have the right to terminate his contract, which runs on the summer of 2026 if the counter-analysis comes back positive.

However, his head coach on the national side, Didier Deschamps, has defended the player claiming he is very surprised about Pogba’s doping allegation.

Obviously I am very surprised but I have nothing to judge the matter on, Deschamps said to TF1 after France’s 2-1 defeat to Germany on Tuesday evening, as quoted by Football Italia

He has a lot of things on his plate, it’s a very difficult time. I will have to speak to him in the next few days, I have already sent him a message.

I can’t imagine it, knowing he wouldn’t do it. He has a strong head on his shoulder. I remember the discussions we had about the COVID vaccine. But, the substance is in his body and we don’t know how it got there.

Pogba is still awaiting the outcome of the second test, and if found guilty, the 2018 World Cup winner could face a minimum ban of four years, and potentially the end of his professional career.

The 30-year-old’s incident is one of the many cases of athletes failing their doping tests, Romanian tennis star Simona Halep was recently given a four-year ban after another case of a failed doping test.