ANALYZING HOW THE COURT OF ARBITRATION FOR SPORTS MAY EXAMINE PAUL POGBA'S BAN

ANALYZING HOW THE COURT OF ARBITRATION FOR SPORTS MAY EXAMINE PAUL POGBA'S BAN ~Uyi Olubor Esq.
On the 29th of February, French International and 2018 World cup winner, Paul Pogba was handed a four-year ban by the Italian Anti Doping Court having tested positive for synthetic testosterone. Although, the French International as come out to state that he is disappointed in the outcome of the findings, and he hopes to contest the said decision. The question that follows is what options are open to him?
Well, for starters, he can appeal the said decision before the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS).
Thus, the question that follows is what is the jurisprudence of CAS in respect of matters of these nature — that is to say, what nature of reasoning does CAS employ in deciphering or resolving subject matters of this nature (doping). To start with, I must first point out the fact that as of today we don't know the exact nature of drugs that Paul Pogba was accused of taking nor do we know the exact nature of defense that was put up initially by his lawyers before the Italian anti doping court, this is because of the Italian privacy and secrecy laws.
However, for the purpose of this article, we would take a look at CAS' general approach or jurisprudence in dealing with issues of this nature. We would do this by mirroring CAS' decision in the case of Andre Onana against UEFA.
Andre onana while at Ajax was banned by UEFA for 12 months for testing positive to a diuretic (furosemide) although, furosemide wasn't a performance enhancing drug, but it was deemed to be a masking agent in the testing and discovery of performance enhancing drugs.
However, in his defence, Andre Onana did admit taking it, albeit unknowingly, he claimed he was having pains, and he felt like taking aspirin, he mistakenly went into his wife's drug compartment and took her diuretic. Having been able to prove his case before CAS, his ban was reduced to 9 months.
The judgement\award in Onana's case is a reflection of the jurisprudence or thinking of the tribunal in matters relating to doping. 
It is a strict liability offence, if a banned substance is discovered in the blood stream of an athlete, he is deemed to be guilty, the burden of ascertaining or knowing that a substance is banned or not is placed at the door step of the athlete. However, if the athlete can successfully proove that he mistakenly took the substance, this defence can help mitigate the punishment that would befall him but can never exculpate him entirely.
However, in the case of Paul Pogba, I hope by the time he presents his case before CAS, his lawyers would be able to prove any mitigating circumstances that would warrant a reduction of the four years ban

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