Paul Pogba and Didier Deschamps, a long story. It was the coach who launched “La Pioche” in Blue, in March 2013 against Georgia (3-1). Together, they notably triumphed at the 2018 World Cup, in Russia, and at the Nations League, in 2021. The announcement of the four-year suspension for doping of the 30-year-old Seine-et-Marnais, 31 at the mid-March, therefore could not leave “DD” indifferent. Which “DD” “does not imagine for a single moment that Paul had the intention, the desire to take drugs”, as he explains in a statement relayed by the FFF. “To know him well, I know that this is not at all in his state of mind. Now there are the facts and what the two samples taken reveal. The presence of the illicit hormone is indisputable. The problem is there and Paul will have to lead a new fight to defend himself, before the Court of Arbitration for Sport and convince the judges that he did not knowingly take prohibited products,” adds the 55-year-old technician, in office since 2012 at the head of the Blues.
Remember that Paul Pogba tested positive for testosterone last August. The Italian Anti-Doping Tribunal suspended him for four years this Thursday and the person concerned, as Deschamps says, announced his decision to appeal. In the meantime, the native of Roissy-en-Brie is experiencing a terrible descent into hell, made up of injuries and extra-sporting affairs. “Like the sentence handed down this Thursday by the Italian Anti-Doping Court, what Paul has been going through for several months is extremely hard and I obviously cannot remain indifferent to his sentence, given everything he has achieved in selection and the relationships we have established in the French team. Her situation saddens me and I sincerely hope that she can get better. In any case, I want to believe it,” insists the 98 world champion. Pogba played 91 matches for the French team (11 goals), all under the direction of Didier Deschamps.