Six to face trial in Paris for blackmailing France footballer Paul Pogba
Six men with ties to French footballer Paul Pogba go on trial Tuesday on blackmail and extortion charges and for holding him at gunpoint. Three of Pogba's childhood friends and his own brother are among the accused.
Six men linked to Juventus and France midfielder Paul Pogba face trial from Tuesday, accused of blackmail, attempted extortion of millions of euros and holding the player at gunpoint.
The case at the Paris criminal court has shocked the French football world -- all the more so because the perpetrators include three childhood friends and Pogba's own brother Mathias.
The development comes as Pogba battles professional woes, as Juventus this month cancelled his contract following his suspension until March 2025 for doping.
In total, the group are accused of attempting to squeeze 13 million euros ($13.5 million) out of the player.
Mathias was himself the one to go public in the case, publishing a video on social networks in August 2022 in French, Italian, English and Spanish.
He promised revelations about his younger brother that were "likely to be explosive" while remaining vague about the details.
In a subsequent clip, Mathias accused his younger brother of casting an evil spell on his France teammate Kylian Mbappe.
He had already filed criminal complaints in Italy and France in July that year.
Pogba told French investigators that he had in March 2022 been "tricked by childhood friends" from the neighbourhood in Roissy-en-Brie outside Paris where he and Mathias grew up.
