It sounds like the plot of a Hollywood movie.
But, as is so often the case, the truth is stranger than fiction… and that is certainly the way in the weird and wonderful world of Paul Pogba and his family.
In December 2024, his brother – former Wrexham, Crawley Town and Crewe Alexandra striker Mathias – was sentenced to three years in jail (with two years suspended) for his part in a plot to kidnap and extort Paul.
The whole case also involves his childhood friends, gunpoint extortion and even witch doctors… welcome to the bizarre life of Paul Pogba.
Oh Brother
It all started back in 2022, when Paul Pogba went to the authorities in his native France to report a plot that saw him blackmailed and extorted for a sum in excess of £11 million.
The Paris prosecutor’s office began an investigation into Pogba’s claim, which took an unlikely twist when it was reported in the media that his own brother, Mathias, was set to have masterminded the plan, utilising a gang that also featured some of Paul’s childhood friends.
A gang armed with assault rifles kidnapped Paul by dragging him off the streets of Paris and into an empty apartment, attempting to extort him for the huge sum. They claimed that he owed them the money for discreet ‘protective services’ that they had been providing for him. The 31-year-old was able to escape harm by agreeing to send the money to them.
Instead, he went straight to the police, who launched a criminal investigation. The authorities also looked into Paul’s claims that he had also been harassed for money while in Turin and Manchester playing for Juventus and Manchester United respectively.
As the probe got underway, Mathias then took to social media to make some cryptic claims about his younger brother, revealing that he knew ‘explosive’ secrets and that football fans ‘deserved to know certain things.’ When you’re being accused of blackmail already, that’s perhaps not the smartest move.
At the conclusion of the lengthy investigation, it was revealed that six men – Mathias and five members of the alleged extortion gang – would face a criminal trial at the end of 2024.
Mathias was charged with attempted extortion and criminal conspiracy, while the other gang members were tried for a variety of alleged crimes that included ‘extortion and attempted extortion by using violence, abduction and confinement to facilitate a crime or misdemeanour and criminal conspiracy.’
Much of the evidence centred on the alleged kidnapping of March 2022, which the prosecution argued was ‘not, as some of the accused were able to maintain, a simple friendly meeting but rather facts falling under criminal law.’
Although Mathias was not present during the kidnapping, he was said to have applied ‘committed pressure’ on Paul to pay up the money demanded. Mathias served three months in prison back in 2022 while the case was being investigated.
The Manipulation Game
And then things got really strange.
It was revealed to the press, via court papers and leaked evidence, that the gang was trying to blackmail Paul Pogba by making up false allegations against him.
One such claim was that Paul had hired a witch doctor to place a voodoo curse on French national teammate Kylian Mbappe. Pogba denied the outlandish allegation.
The six accused made their defence, claiming that they were also the victims of the extortion gang. Some even suggested that they had been ‘assaulted’ after Paul refused to pay up on the blackmail demands. Mathias told authorities that he was innocent of the charges and wanted to reconcile with his younger brother.
Paul, giving evidence, revealed that the case had had a ‘big impact’ on him personally and in his football career, fearing that his loved ones would be harmed if the blackmail plot continued.
He also contemplated retiring from football altogether.
“Sometimes I was just by myself thinking, ‘I don’t want to have money anymore. I just don’t want to play anymore. I just want to be with normal people, so they will love me for me – not for the fame, not for the money,” he said.
At the end of the trial, Mathias Pogba was sentenced to three years for his part in the plot. Two of those years will be suspended, with the other year being served under house arrest with an electric tag.
The rest of the gang, meanwhile, was individually tried and sentenced to terms ranging from four to eight years in prison.
The Mercurial Genius of Paul Pogba
A World Cup, UEFA Nations League, Europa League and Serie A winner, that has also played in Champions League and European Championship finals, Paul Pogba should be celebrated as a titan of modern football.
But he has rarely received the accolades he deserves; based largely, you suspect, on his languid playing style and perceived bad attitude.
He has played for two clubs twice – Juventus and Manchester United, but at the time of writing is without a club having been found guilty of doping. Juventus tore up his contract with them.
In September 2023, Pogba failed a drugs test, having showed traces of the banned substance DHEA. After a full investigation, he was banned from football for four years.
However, after appealing his case with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas), his sanction was cut to 18 months. They agreed that Pogba had ‘unintentionally’ ingested the substance.
“I always stated that I never knowingly breached world anti-doping agency regulations when I took a nutritional supplement prescribed to me by a doctor, which does not affect or enhance the performance of male athletes,” Pogba has said.
“This has been a hugely distressing period in my life because everything I have worked so hard for has been put on hold.”
The Frenchman will be free to resume training in January, before his ban runs out in March. At which point, he will have only just turned 32 – plenty of time to resume his career.
With the court case behind him, maybe there’s still time for Paul Pogba to return to the upper echelons of the beautiful game.
