LAUSANNE: Paul Pogba’s doping suspension has been cut from four years to 18 months by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

CAS director general Matthieu Reeb said: “The suspension is now 18 months, starting September 11, 2023.”

The France midfielder was provisionally suspended by Italy’s national anti-doping organisation in September 2023 after testing positive for DHEA, a banned substance that raises levels of testosterone.

The 31-year-old Pogba, contracted to Juventus until June 2026, had denied any wrongdoing.

He said: “Finally the nightmare is over. Following this decision by CAS I can look forward to the day when I can follow my dreams again.

“I always stated that I never knowingly breached World Anti-Doping Agency regulations when I took a nutritional supplement prescribed to me by a doctor, which does not affect or enhance the performance of male athletes.

“I play with integrity, and although I must accept that this is a strict liability offence, I want to place on record my thanks to the Court of Arbitration for Sport’s judges who heard my explanation.”

The doping test was performed after Juve’s 3-0 season-opening victory in Serie A at Udinese on Aug. 20, 2023.

The tribunal said it had detected prohibited “non-endogenous testosterone metabolites”, adding that the results were “consistent with the exogenous (external) origin of the target compounds”.

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