Paul Pogba has had his four-year ban for doping reduced to 18 months after appealing to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

The ruling means the France World Cup winner will be free to resume his career in March 2025.

CAS confirmed earlier reports that the ban was reduced when approached by The Associated Press on Friday. CAS did not elaborate on the decision.

Pogba did not immediately comment but made a cryptic post on his Instagram feed of an image — presumably of him — wearing a pair of boots and socks with the initials “PP.”

The Juventus midfielder tested positive for testosterone in August last year and was handed the maximum punishment by Italy’s anti-doping court.

At the time, Pogba said “the verdict is incorrect” and appealed to the Switzerland-based CAS.

“I am sad, shocked and heartbroken that everything I have built in my professional playing career has been taken away from me,” he said.

Four-year bans are standard under the world anti-doping code but can be reduced in cases where an athlete can prove their doping was not intentional, if the positive test was a result of contamination or if they provide “substantial assistance” to help investigators.

The 31-year-old Pogba was the most expensive soccer player in history when he joined Manchester United from Juventus for a fee of 105 million euros ($113 million) in 2016.

He starred in France’s World Cup triumph in 2018 and returned to Juventus as a free agent in 2022. But injuries limited him to just eight Serie A appearances in his second spell at the club before his ban.

Pogba was suspended after the positive test was announced in September last year.

Reporting by The Associated Press.

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