Paul Pogba doping ban reduced from 4 years to 18 months

Sport

Paul Pogba doping ban reduced from 4 years to 18 months

2024-10-05 03:49 Last Updated At：03:50

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.

“Finally the nightmare is over,” Pogba said in a statement. “Following the decision by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, I can look forward to the day when I can follow my dreams again.”

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.

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.

“I always stated that I never knowingly breached World Anti-Doping Agency regulations when I took a nutritional supplement prescribed to me by a doctor, which does not affect or enhance the performance of male athletes," Pogba said. “I play with integrity, and although I must accept that this is a strict liability offence, I want to place on record my thanks to the Court of Arbitration for Sport’s judges who heard my explanation.

“This has been a hugely distressing period in my life because everything I have worked so hard for has been put on hold.”

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.

“I just cannot wait to get back on the pitch,” he said.

James Robson is at https://twitter.com/jamesalanrobson

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

Indonesians mark 2 decades since the tragic tsunami that killed hundreds of thousands

2024-12-21 10:07 Last Updated At：10:10

BANDA ACEH, Indonesia (AP) — Two decades after a catastrophic tsunami destroyed her village, Tria Asnani still cries when she recalls how she lost her mother while trying to escape the giant waves.

Asnani, now a school teacher, was only 17 at the time. Her father, who was a fisherman, never returned home from sea. She doesn't know how she survived. “I cannot swim. I could only rely on dhikr (Islamic prayer).”

On Dec. 26, 2004, a powerful 9.1-magnitude earthquake off the coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra triggered a tsunami that killed around 230,000 people across a dozen countries, reaching as far as East Africa.

But Indonesia’s Aceh province, located closest to the earthquake’s epicenter and with 18 of 23 districts and cities located in the coastal line in the Northern side of Sumatra, bore the brunt of the disaster with more than half of the total death toll reported.

The worst-hit areas were in Aceh Besar and Banda Aceh, according to the Aceh Disaster Management Agency.

Asnani's Lampuuk village lies in a fishermen’s community in Aceh Besar, known for its white sandy beaches and turquoise waters. However, on that day, it was among the hardest hit, with waves more than 30 meters (98 feet) high which changed the coastline in Aceh and led to land subsidence after the earthquake.

Buildings by the coast were flattened to the ground except for Rahmatullah Mosque, 500 meters (1,600 feet) from the shore, and about 1 kilometer (0.6 miles) from Asnani’s house. The photo of the place of worship, left pretty much unscathed, later became iconic for juxtaposing ftact

After the disastrous event, thousands, including Asnani, had to relocate to start afresh. She moved with her uncle to another region in Aceh to continue her studies. After she got married, she returned in 2007 to her parents' house which was rebuilt with assistance from the Turkish government and lived there for 10 years.

Many international donors and organizations poured in money to help rebuild the affected areas that lost schools, hospitals and basic infrastructure, made stronger than before the tsunami hit.

Tsunami and Disaster Mitigation Research Center at Syiah Kuala University in Aceh recorded more than 1,400 wrecked schools and about 150,000 students had their education process disrupted by the destructive waves in a report published in 2019.

Three “escape buildings” were also constructed in a relatively safer area to accommodate thousands of people if an earthquake and tsunami strike.

Across the province, memories of the tsunami can be felt almost everywhere.

The Aceh Tsunami Museum in Banda Aceh houses photos of the aftermath and vehicle debris, serving as a constant reminder of what was lost that day. Local authorities have also turned a former floating diesel-powered power plant barge that washed about 6 kilometers (about 4 miles) inland by the tsunami into another memorial place.

Both places have become the most popular tourist destinations in the area.

But development never stops and 20 years after the tsunami the Aceh coast is brimming with residential housing, cafes and restaurants, as well as tourism support facilities, while the hills in some areas from which people are currently being mined for sand and stone.

Fazli, the head of Preparedness in Aceh Disaster Management Agency, said that the government initially stipulated that there should be no activity up to 1 kilometer (0.6 miles) from the coast. Over time, many displaced fishermen returned to their original coastal homes, drawn by their livelihoods and ties to the sea, despite having received housing elsewhere.

He also said the agency has “provided the Acehnese people with information ” to deal with a potential tsunami. "People already know what to do,” said Fazli, who, like other Indonesians, uses a single name.

Siti Ikramatoun, a sociologist in Banda Aceh, said that despite years of recovery and rebuilding, the people of Aceh must stay vigilant.

“If people experienced (the tsunami), they may have an instinct to anticipate it. But those who do not have the experience, they won’t get what to do,” Ikramatoun said.

Various communities in Aceh commemorate the tsunami yearly along with the government and local authorities.

In Banda Aceh, art communities in early December spread disaster awareness through theatrical or musical performances that can be easier for people to follow and target all groups, including those born after the tsunami.

Muslina, 43, a civil servant, took her youngest son to the Aceh Tsunami Museum to watch one of the shows. She lost relatives and loved ones 20 years ago and she wants to make sure she always remembers them.

“Earlier my son asked me if there might be another tsunami when he grows up," she said. “I told him I do not know. Only God knows, but if there is a strong earthquake and the seawater recedes, we run, run, run to find higher ground.”