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Juventus and France footballer, Paul Pogba reportedly told French police about an alleged plot to blackmail him by a gang that took him to a Paris apartment in March this year and demanded £11m while threatening him with assault rifles.
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The 29-year-old former Manchester United footballer, who has won the World Cup with France, said the men were organised by his own elder brother Mathias Pogba.
Paul Pogba said Matthias Pogba and the gang wanted the money for ‘protection services’ stretching back 13 years and also followed him to Manchester.
The two armed men reportedly told Pogba that they ‘protected him discreetly’ during a ten year period, including during two spells at Manchester United, the last of which ended in June 2022.
The French Justice system also confirmed on Sunday, August 28 that an investigation for ‘attempted extortion in an organised gang’ has been opened.
On Sunday night a source close to the case told the Franceinfo news outlet that Pogba’s ‘big brother and childhood friends’ are all named as suspects.
The bombshell news comes after his brother Mathias, who had spells in English football at Wrexham, Crewe and Crawley Town, promised to reveal ‘explosive’ information about Paul Pogba in a bizarre video published on Twitter, shortly after joining the social media platform, on Saturday night.
‘The French, English, Italian and Spanish public – in other words, the whole world – as well as my brother’s fans, and even more so the French team and Juventus, my brother’s team-mates and his sponsors deserve to know certain things,’ he said.
‘In order to make an informed decision if he deserves the admiration, respect and love of the public.
If he deserves his place in the French team and the honour of playing in the World Cup. If he deserves to be a starter at Juventus.
‘If he is a trustworthy person, that any player deserves to have at his side.’
Then on Sunday night, Mathias denied claims of organizing a blackmail plot against his brother.
Taking to Twitter, he wrote;
‘Paul, you really wanted to shut me up completely to lie and send me to prison, I suspected it now it’s true, my version of the facts happens and unlike you.’
Mathias also referenced Kylian Mbappe, Pogba’s teammate at France and accused Pogba of doing ”withcraft”.
Paul Pogba was born and raised in Lagny-sur-Marne to Guinean parents along with two brothers – Mathias and Florentin, both of whom also play football professionally.
A Paris judicial source said to Franceinfo news outlet;
‘Investigators from the Central Office of Judicial Police Combating Organised Crime that he was trapped by childhood friends, and two hooded men armed with assault rifles.’
Pogba said the gang wanted €13m – the equivalent of £11m – and had been threatening him for four months.
Pogba reportedly said acts of intimidation were carried out in Manchester in April, and later around the Italian city of Turin, where he currently plays for Juventus.
The gang reportedly took Pogba to a flat in the Paris suburb of Lagny-sur-Marne, where Pogba grew up, at the end of March and accused Pogba of not helping them financially since he became a professional player.
During police interviews, Paul Pogba said he was always close to his childhood friends and helped them out financially when he could.
But in January he kicked one out from his house in Manchester after discovering that he had used his credit card to steal €200,000 which is the equivalent of £170,000.
