In the wake of Paul Pogba’s failed drugs test at Juventus, France manager Didier Deschamps and Kingsley Coman have rallied to support him.
Pogba is currently under provisional suspension by the Italian anti-doping authority due to a positive test for testosterone, a hormone associated with improved athletic endurance.
If found guilty, the 30-year-old could face a football ban of up to four years as a result of this random drug test. Reports from Italy suggest that he has until the end of this week to provide a counter-analysis of the test results.
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Nevertheless, French national team coach Deschamps and fellow countryman, Bayern Munich’s Coman, have offered their backing to the Juventus player.
Deschamps, who has worked with Pogba since taking over the Les Bleus managerial role in 2012, finds it hard to believe that Pogba has committed such an offence.
“I can’t imagine that, knowing him, with everything that is in his head. I still remember certain discussions with him on the vaccine and Covid… The substance there is, but afterwards, unless there is a second opinion…,” he said to reporters. “I don’t think he himself knows [why] unfortunately. It’s hard for him. I have always supported him.”
Bayern winger Coman, who has played alongside the Juve midfielder for France for years, protested Pogba’s innocence and weighed in with his support.
“We all support Paul, he’s a very close friend, he’s part of the family,” he told reporters. “We don’t really know more, we’ll have to look. But we know Paul, we knows that if something happened, it was surely unconsciously, without intention. We are with him wholeheartedly.”