The brother of the French football star Paul Pogba on Friday denied that he was involved in blackmail attempts against Juventus midfielder.
Mathias Pogba’s lawyer, Richard Arbib, said in a statement that his client wants to “definitively state that he is completely averse to any attempt of blackmail against his brother, Paul Pogba. .”
Two judges were appointed last week to investigate allegations that the World Cup champion was targeted by his brother and his childhood friends. Arbib insisted that Mathias Pogba wanted “more than anything else” to calm the situation with his brother.
The Paris prosecutor’s office opened an investigation last month into an organized extortion plot, which is being handled by anti-corruption police.
French authorities are investigating allegations that Pogba was the target of an extortion plot by his brother and childhood friends, who demanded 13 million euros ($13 million) from ex Manchester United player.
When the group approached Pogba about their needs at the Juventus training center in Turin, he said his brother Mathias Pogba was among them, according to France-Info radio.
The incident became public after Mathias Pogba posted a video and tweet threatening to share an ‘explosive revelation’ about his brother and the France star. Kylian Mbappe.
Paul Pogba is said to have told investigators that the blackmailers intended to discredit him by claiming he had asked a witch doctor to bless Mbappe.
Pogba denies that allegation and Mbappe has sided with the player he won the 2018 World Cup with.
“He called me, he gave his version of the truth,” Mbappe said on Monday. “It was his words against his brother’s words. He [Paul Pogba] there were certain problems and I thought it was not the time to add them to him. We’ll see how it goes, I’m pretty separate from all that. ”
French officials say Pogba paid 100,000 euros (nearly $100,000) to the group trying to extort millions of dollars more.
Pogba is believed to have paid after he was threatened by armed, masked men in a Paris apartment in March while he was in France for a national team game.
Mathias Pogba, 32, is also a footballer who has spent most of his career with lower-tier teams in England and other European countries.
