Paul Pogba, one of the world’s most well-known midfielders, had a terrible couple of years due to a drug suspension. In September 2023, he tested positive for a banned drug following Juventus’ match against Udinese.
Following the lifting of his initial 4 year term, Pogba eventually returned to playing professional football in June 2025, signing a two-year agreement with AS Monaco. It was symbolic: his first time playing club football in France, the country he represents internationally.
On 22nd November 2025, he finally went out onto the pitch in a Ligue 1 game against Rennes, coming on as a substitute.
In the recently concluded Globe Soccer Awards on 28th December, 2025 in Dubai, Pogba was honoured with the Comeback Player of the Year award.
But it turned out to be a huge controversy amongst the football geeks because his return to football after an 18-month doping ban lacked significant on-pitch impact.
He joined Monaco in the summer of 2025 but only made his debut in November, playing in just three matches for a total of about 30 minutes until the end of the year.
His debut on 22nd November came against Rennes, replacing Mamadou Coulibaly in the 85th minute, playing a total of just 15 minutes. Though, Monaco lost that game 4-1
Then, his second appearance came against PSG replacing the Japanese, Takumi Minamino this time, in the 86th minute.
And, his third appearance came against Brest aka Stade Brestois, in the 69th minute, replacing Mamadou Coulibaly again.
He was named on the bench in the subsequent Champions League matches against Pafos and Galatasaray but didn’t come on as a substitute, however.
One of the reasons for his limited gametime has been with his return to competitive football after 3 years and not being match fit yet. This has also been down to the thigh and ankle injuries which he suffered post his transfer to Monaco, delaying his debut till November because of the recovery period.
Another possible reason would be down to the midfield dynamics of Monaco under both managers, the former Austrian, Adolf Hutter and the current Belgian, Sebastian Pocognoli.
Managers usually don’t like to chop and change certain player dynamics if they feel it works for them, unless they want to manage their workloads. And certainly, this has been the case with both the managers with using the midfield dynamics of Mamadou Coulibaly, Takumi Minamino, Denis Zakaria and Lamine Camara on many occasions.
Many fans contrasted Pogba’s award with players who survived terrible injuries or life-threatening conditions and delivered commendable performances upon return, like Nabil Bentaleb who scored within 4 minutes against Rennes after being away for 240 days following a cardiac arrest.
The sentiments were that the award felt unfair when others had more compelling stories of resilience and inspirational stories.
The Globe Soccer Awards faced backlash for being a publicity-driven event with random or fabricated categories, sometimes only geared to high-profile participants like Cristiano Ronaldo.
It was thought to be a “joke” and questioned its credibility compared to more established accolades like the Ballon d’Or.
Overall, the backlash highlighted a view that the award prioritized Pogba’s name recognition and narrative over substantive achievements in 2025.-
What the hell is this? He's played 30 minutes after a drug ban. There's been nothing glorious about Pogba's comeback (yet). https://t.co/z8deWMRRVq
— Robin Bairner (@RBairner) December 28, 2025
@Mor1Antoine: We juste have to ignore this fake ceremony of globe awards which means nothing 😉
@gragra1991: Nabil Bentaleb suffered a cardiac arrest, came back on the pitch after 240 days and scored 4 minutes in to open the score against Rennes away
@_Oruhnc: The real question is: what is “comeback player of the year”? When did they create this one? Same way there was no Middle East Player of the Year until Ronaldo retired to the Middle East and asked his staff to create that one for him.
@jshgzbr: Ronaldo and his agent are doing everything to make their award show look legit, unfortunately, nobody can take this s**t seriously when both of them get awards for achieving nothing every single year.
@StlLfc: Relax. It’s the camel awards, they be inviting anyone and handing awards for years now. No one takes them seriously
@chelseabestfan: You taking globe “soccer” awards seriously?
He violated anti-doping regulations, lads. Intentional or not, handing him an award for “coming back” afterwards is bizarre. https://t.co/kwhb0hUhGq
— Si Lloyd (@SmnLlyd5) December 28, 2025
@dreeyzy: lol they knew he has social media numbers. They doing this for clout
@Rajainmaki: FIFA (or Globe Soccer, whatever) should just create a new category: Best bench cam magnet of the year
@GaelicRoadSign: Is this the latest Infantino award?😂
@youngblud1708: The most useless award ceremony
@Darylianp: It’s a great time to learn that media is in for clout.
@AngeloP55200013: This day and age is completely broken, making up awards! No wonder sport is so full of flakes
@undisputedxxl: Very unnecessary award 😂😂 where did Pogba come back from ?
@prosperiasam: What a joke, he was suspended for drug use and gets an award for serving the penalty then coming back, get an player who overcame an injury or something worthy of an award
@Olariches82: This is not worth it. Come back award for what exactly? He broke the rules and was punished for same, let’s not paint it here because it’s Paul Pogba of France.
@joshua_pharmd: The committee just created an award category for him. It’s not normal😒
@AdeoyePrince14: They want bro to feel relevant again😂😂😂
@walesherbey: Comeback award, What a joke..
@Stephen69243127: Kind of says everything about him that he accepted this bulls**t award Shameless You’d think he’d want to at least do something on the pitch first
@Remmywicky: Come back from what. When his the one to blame for what he did to himself
