France head coach Didier Deschamps gave his stance on the situation of Paul Pogba.
Pogba, on Friday, saw his four-year ban for doping reduced to 18 months by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
“There is this light that turns on again,” Deschamps said on the French Football Federation (FFF) website.
“He will have stages to go through but it is excellent news. He will be able to play again from March.”
The 31-year-old World Cup winner tested positive for testosterone in August 2023 after a match between Juventus and Udinese in Italy.
Pogba, who has 91 caps for France, highlighted a food supplement prescribed by a doctor he consulted in the United States for the positive test.
He was then provisionally suspended in September of the same year, and then banned for four years by the Italian National Anti-Doping Tribunal in February.
He now reportedly hopes to return to the French team in 2025.
“I spoke to him for quite a long time on the phone as this whole period has been very complicated for him,” added Deschamps.
“It still remains a sanction which is heavy, less heavy,” he said, but Pogba “knows that in March 2025, he will become a player again and as he loves football and playing so much, it is excellent news for him”.
