Rio Mavuba, a former teammate of Paul Pogba, has voiced his opinion that the former Manchester United midfielder was likely deceived into taking a banned substance that led to the footballer receiving a four-year suspension from Italian football authorities.
Mavuba, who played with Pogba on the French national team, spoke out in support of his friend's protestations of innocence, saying he has no doubt about Pogba's sincerity and suspects that he may have been tricked.
He told TeleFoot: ' in no doubt about Paul’s sincerity and I think he may have been somewhat tricked too.' Pogba was found guilty of taking a banned substance after a routine test following Juventus' Serie A match against Udinese at the start of the 2023-24 season. But the 30-year-old has continued to deny the charges and is planning to appeal the decision in the Court of Arbitration for Sport.