SANCHO HEADING FOR SORRY END AT UNITED... OR HE CAN APOLOGISE

IF Paul Pogba knowingly doped, then he’s an absolute, er, plonker.

And if he unwittingly doped, as he claims after testosterone was found in his system, then, frankly, he stands accused of the same.

How, in this day and age, can ANY professional athlete put a supplement into themselves without checking what’s in it and then checking again, and again?

It beggars belief, given the huge damage to a reputation and, in some cases an entire career, if they return an adverse finding.

In the days which followed the news that Pogba (above) had returned a positive A sample when doping officers tested him in August, the 2019 Wimbledon winner, Simona Halep, was handed a four-year doping ban, effectively ending her career.

In the blink of an eye, she has gone from being someone who’ll be remembered for winning the most prestigious Grand Slam... to someone remembered as a cheat.

Pogba, a World Cup winner, faces the same sorry end if his B sample returns the same positive finding as the first and he is unable to prove his innocence.

It’s astonishing such big-name athletes ever get in this situation – whether they meant to or not.

SOME statistics can be twisted to say just about anything these days, but not the one which shows Novak Djokovic now stands beside Margaret Court as the most decorated Grand Slam winner in tennis history.

The 24-time Slam champion will never be as fondly remembered as Roger Federer or Rafa Nadal, or, going back further, John Mcenroe, Bjorn Borg and Andre Agassi.

But there can be no disputing that his achievement stands him alone as the greatest tennis player of all time, given the competition he had around him.

BEN STOKES’ recordbreaking knock of 182 off 124 balls against New Zealand — the highest ever ODI total by an Englishman — was a beguiling mix of grace and aggression. England’s Test captain (left) is cricket’s answer to Muhammad Ali.

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