Juventus ‘could TEAR UP Paul Pogba’s £130k-a-week contract’ if he is banned for failing a drugs test as the French midfielder’s team insist he ‘never wanted to break the rules’

• Pogba could be banned for up to four years after positive testosterone test
• Reports say Juventus would terminate his contract regardless of ban length 
• Listen to the latest episode of Mail Sport’s podcast It’s All Kicking Off! 

Juventus could reportedly tear up Paul Pogba’s £130,000-a-week contract if he is banned for failing a drugs test.

The France midfielder, 30, has been provisionally suspended and could be banned for up to four years after testing positive for testosterone.

The positive test was reported to have occurred after Juve’s Serie A fixture against Udinese on August 20, a game in which he did not play.

Having been suspended by Italy’s national anti-doping tribunal on an initial precautionary basis, Pogba had three days from Monday to request a B sample.

The maximum suspension in such cases is four years – an initial two-year ban, which can be doubled if it is proven that the substance was taken deliberately.

Paul Pogba could see his Juventus contract torn up if he is banned for failing a drugs test

The midfielder has been provisionally suspended after the positive testosterone test 

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Gazzetta dello Sport report that Juventus could cancel Pogba’s contract if he is banned, bringing a definitive early conclusion to his second spell with them.

Pogba signed a four-year contract when he returned to the Turin club in July 2022, meaning it has another three years to run. The length of Pogba’s ban is unlikely to influence the club’s decision to rip up his deal.

Juventus and coach Massimiliano Allegri could wave goodbye to Pogba 

If there is a quick resolution to the case, Pogba may not even make it to the halfway point of his present Juventus contract.

When he returned to Turin, reports suggested Pogba was forced to accept a significant pay cut on the £290,000-a-week he earned at United.

Pogba’s agent, Rafaela Pimenta, leapt to his defence in a statement on Tuesday.

Via reporter Simon Stone, Pimenta said: ‘We are waiting for the counter analysis and until then we can’t say anything.

‘The certain thing is that Paul Pogba never wanted to break the rules.’

Though Pogba’s positive test was given three games ago, he has since played a part in Juventus’ games against Bologna and Empoli since the Udinese fixture as the results were analysed.

Juventus confirmed Pogba’s provisional suspension in a club statement on Monday night.

The statement read: ‘Juventus Football Club announces that today, September 11, 2023, the footballer Paul Labile Pogba received a precautionary suspension order from the National Anti-Doping Tribunal following the results of tests carried out on August 20, 2023.

‘The club reserves the right to consider the next procedural steps.’

Pogba rejoined Juventus from Manchester United in the summer of 2022 on a free transfer after six years back in the Premier League.

Rafaela Pimenta said the midfielder ‘never meant to break the rules’ as she broke her silence

He endured a mixed time with United, leaving the club for free for a second time after departing for Italy as a teenager in 2012.

But things haven’t gone to plan at Juve either, with the midfielder making just one start last season due to injury.

He has enjoyed more game time this season, but will now be absent, seemingly for the foreseeable future, amid his ban.

Pogba has previously admitted he considered retiring from football amid the alleged extortion plot against him and his family in 2022.

The French midfielder was threatened by a gang of masked, armed men in a Paris apartment who demanded millions from the star for ‘protection services.’

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