People avoided me during my ban

People avoided me during my ban – Pogba

Date: 3 July 2025 8:24pm WAT

(FILES) Juventus' French midfielder Paul Pogba looks on ahead of the Italian Cup semi-final second leg football match between Inter Milan and Juventus at the Giuseppe-Meazza (San Siro) stadium in Milan, on April 26, 2023. From November 26, 2024 to December 3, 2024, six men will stand trial in Paris in a kidnap and extortion case involving French footballer Paul Pogba, with the star's brother Mathias one of the accused. (Photo by Isabella BONOTTO / AFP)

Former Manchester United midfielder, Paul Pogba, has revealed what he went through during his 18-month ban from football, saying that people avoided him.

Pogba was handed the doping ban when he was at Juventus and the Serie A club immediately terminated his contract, meaning he had to find a new team upon the conclusion of his suspension.

The French international during an interview with UK website, the Daily Mail, revealed what he went through during his ban and praised his wife for standing by him.

“People were avoiding me and my wife. My wife was the one cheering me up during that difficult period,” the 32-year-old said.

“My phone stopped ringing like it used to and people stopped calling me for events. I can’t stop praising my wife for what she did then, even as we had to the the job of co-parenting our children.”

Pogba will return to competitive football action in the 2025/26 season after the World Cup winner joined French Ligue 1 club, AS Monaco a few days ago.