Pogba, Maradona, Onana, Other Football Stars Who Have Been Banned For Doping

French footballer, Paul Pogba, received a four-year ban from the Italian anti-doping tribunal on Thursday, following his positive testosterone test in August 2023.

After testing positive following Juventus’ Serie A opening-day fixture against Udinese on August 20, during which he was not used as a substitute, the 30-year-old was provisionally suspended in September 2023 and has not been involved in football for his side, Juventus, since then.

As a result of the ban, Pogba will be ineligible to play until the 2027–28 season, by which time he will be 34 years old.

Naija News, however, reports that Pogba has announced that he is not guilty of using a banned substance hours after he was banned from football over the said crime.

Here are some other top football stars who have faced bans for doping violations:

Diego Maradona

Diego Maradona received a 15-month football ban from the Italian League’s disciplinary committee in March 1991 for using cocaine before a league match involving SC Napoli against Bari, a sanction that was later extended globally by FIFA.

Despite being widely regarded as football’s greatest player, Maradona’s career was overshadowed by off-field controversies and doping scandals, resulting in his 1991 ban and subsequent arrest in Buenos Aires for cocaine possession and trafficking.

His involvement in another doping controversy led to his expulsion from the 1994 World Cup in the USA due to ephedrine detected in his urine sample, subsequently resulting in a 15-month suspension.

Following a season-opening victory by his Boca Juniors team in 1997, Maradona announced his retirement due to his third positive drug test.

At the age of 60, Maradona experienced a cardiac arrest and passed away peacefully in his sleep on November 25, 2020, at his residence in Dique Luján, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina.

Andre Onana

Manchester United goalkeeper Andre Onana received a one-year doping ban from UEFA, Europe’s football governing body, in 2021 following a positive test for a banned substance.

Onana attributed the presence of the banned diuretic furosemide in his urine to mistakenly taking his wife’s medication when he felt unwell.

After an appeal, the Court of Arbitration for Sport shortened the ban to nine months, clarifying that Andre Onana bore no ‘significant fault’ for ingesting medication intended for another person in error. 

Samir Nasri

In 2018, former France star Samir Nasri received an 18-month ban due to the intravenous drip treatment he underwent at a Los Angeles clinic in 2016, with his ban backdated to July 2017, allowing him to resume football activities in January 2019.

Nasri admitted to being unaware of the regulations, claiming he sought treatment at the clinic while unwell and preparing for the upcoming football season.

Kolo Toure

Former Ivorian star, Kolo Toure, during his time with Manchester City in May 2011, faced a six-month suspension for doping after admitting to consuming his wife’s diet pill.

Toure underwent two years of target-testing after an independent regulatory commission hearing held at Wembley by the Football Association, where it was determined that he did not have the intention to enhance sporting performance, resulting in his ban being moved back to March.

Andrian Mutu

Former Chelsea forward Andrian Mutu stands out as one of the footballers who faced doping bans on two occasions, with the first instance occurring in 2004 during his transition from Barcelona to England, resulting in a seven-month suspension due to his admission of taking a banned substance, leading to his dismissal from the club in October 2004 amidst doping and off-field issues. 

In 2010, while representing Fiorentina, the Romanian received a nine-month ban from the Italian Olympic Committee’s (Coni) anti-doping tribunal for failing two drug tests, having tested positive for the banned stimulant sibutramine after matches against Bari and Lazio, with his mother, Rodica Mutu, taking responsibility for his doping ban.