December 20 – There is sibling rivalry and then there is Paul and Mathias Pogba.
Mathias, brother to World Cup winner, and former Manchester United and Juventus superstar, Paul, was sentenced Thursday by a Paris criminal court to three years in prison, two of which are suspended.
The case against Mathias Pogba in a Paris criminal court was for an extortion and kidnapping case against his very own family member. The judge ordered Mathias Pogba and five other childhood friends, identified by first name only, to stand trial for an extortion scheme in 2022.
The five friends demanded €13 million ($13.6 million) after holding up the French international at gunpoint. The defendants repeatedly intimidated Pogba, claiming he should have supported them after he became an international star. In the criminal filing they were accused of extortion, abduction, and confinement to facilitate a crime, as well as criminal conspiracy.
The suspected mastermind of the blackmail scheme, Roushdane K., was sentenced to eight years in prison. The others also received jail terms.
The court also found that Paul Pogba had suffered economic losses of €197,000 ($204,000) and moral losses of €50,000 ($52,000). It ordered all the defendants except Mathias Pogba to jointly pay this sum to their former friend.
The case came to light after Mathias Pogba posted threats on social media to share “explosive” revelations about his brother, as well as his Les Blues teammate, Kylian Mbappe.
Once considered one of the world’s best players, Paul, has seen his career slowly slide into oblivion culminating with a positive for testosterone in August last year which resulted in the maximum punishment by Italy’s anti-doping court of a four-year suspension, which was later reduced to 18 months.
Recently, his current club, Juventus, mutually agreed to terminate his contract. Pogba will be free to resume his career in March 2025.
Contact the writer of this story, Nick Webster, at moc.l1734724787labto1734724787ofdlr1734724787owedi1734724787sni@o1734724787fni1734724787