ROME: Juventus midfielder Paul Pogba is eager to return to football after having his doping ban red­u­­ced from four years to 18 months and said he dreams of playing at the 2026 World Cup with France.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport cut the 31-year-old’s ban earlier this mo­nth after he was provisionally suspended by Italy’s National Anti-Dop­ing Agency (NADO Italia) in September 2023 following a positive test for DHEA, a banned substance that boosts testosterone levels.

Pogba, who appealed to CAS arguing his ingestion of DHEA was not intentional, will be eligible to return to play for Juventus in March — and he said he was stronger, wiser and even willing to take a pay cut.

“I am ready to return to normal in 2025. I only have one desire, to play football. The reality is that I’m a Juve player and I am preparing to play for Juve,” Pogba told Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport on Wednesday.

“I don’t have to speak, the pitch will speak and then (coach) Thiago Motta will judge with his own eyes, based on what he sees. I’m ready to give up even money to play for Juve again. I want to come back,” the player, who has a contract with Juventus until June 2026, added.

Pogba, who last played for Juventus over a year ago in a 2-0 win at Empoli, said that getting the initial ban was the most difficult moment of his career.

“It was a very difficult year and what hurt the most was spending every day outside the stadium and (Juventus’s training centre) Continassa taking my children to school without being able to go inside to train or play for Juventus.

“Many past and current team-mates have always supported me. (Juan) Cua­d­rado called me every other day and always made me laugh. (Paulo) Dybala sent me many messages. And then (Dusan) Vlahovic, (Weston) McKe­nnie, (Timothy) Weah, (Moise) Kean... I didn’t expect so many.”

Pogba added that as well as getting back to his best for the Serie A side, he also wants to return to Didier Deschamps’ France squad ahead of the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Mexico and Canada.

“The dream of the World Cup is there, but Deschamps hasn’t opened the doors for anyone. It’s up to me to open them he told me to work,” the midfielder said.

Published in Dawn, October 18th, 2024