Gunpoint incident: Paul Pogba’s Brother, Childhood Friend Face Trial

Paul Pogba’s brother, identified as Mathias and childhood friend who conspired with others to hold the Juventus midfielder under gun point are set to go on trial.

They stand accused of blackmail and attempted extortion of millions of euros, in a case that involves six men in all, and which is set for the Paris criminal court

The six defendants in Paris, according to reports, are accused of attempting to squeeze 13 million euros ($13.5 million) out of Pogba.

Mathias the player’s brother had published a video on social media in August 2022 promising revelations about his younger brother that were “likely to be explosive”.

HE followed up with another where he allegedly accused Paul Pogba of casting an evil spell on his France teammate Kylian Mbappe.

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Paul Pogba’s lawyers and his agent Rafaela Pimenta said in a statement later the videos “came on top of threats and attempts at extortion”.

Pogba told French investigators he had in March 2022 been “tricked by childhood friends” from the gritty Paris suburb where he and Mathias grew up.

He accused them of snatching him before he was held at gunpoint by two hooded men with assault rifles, demanding 13 million euros for “services rendered” and blaming him for not helping them financially.

Pogba said at the time that he had paid them only 100,000 euros.

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The footballer said he had also been pressured at the France national team’s training centre in Clairefontaine, at one of his homes in Manchester, and at Juventus’ training ground.

Pogba added that he had also paid a bill of more than 57,000 euros that the same friends had racked up at the Adidas store on Paris’ glitzy Champs-Elysees avenue.

“It’s been really difficult for me off the pitch, what’s happened, it’s been especially hard mentally,” Pogba told broadcaster Al-Jazeera at the end of the last season.

“Money changes people, it’s the truth, it can destroy a family, start a war”.

Paul Pogba’s lawyer Pierre-Jean Douvier declined to comment ahead of the case when contacted by AFP.