Pogba's brother jailed for extorting France star

A brother of World Cup winner Paul Pogba was sentenced Thursday by a Paris criminal court to three years in prison — two of which are suspended — in an extortion and kidnapping case.

Mathias Pogba had already spent time in detention and the remainder of the sentence will be served under house arrest with electronic monitoring. This sentence is in line with the prosecution’s request. His lawyer said he would appeal the ruling.

The case at the Paris criminal court took place without the former Manchester United and Juventus player.

A judge had ordered Mathias Pogba and five other men to stand trial following an investigation into whether Pogba was the target of extortion by his brother Mathias and childhood friends in 2022.

Mathias went on trial last month “for the offenses of attempted extortion and criminal conspiracy.”

The five others — identified by their first names only — demanded €13 million ($13.6m) from the France midfielder, who was held up at gunpoint by hooded men in March 2022. The defendants repeatedly intimidated Pogba, claiming he should have supported them after he became an international star. They were accused of extortion, abduction and confinement to facilitate a crime, as well as criminal conspiracy.

Roushdane K., suspected of masterminding the blackmail, was sentenced to eight years in prison. The others also received jail terms.

According to reports in French media, the court also found that Paul Pogba had suffered economic losses of €197,000 ($204,000) and moral losses of €50,000 ($52,000). It ordered all the defendants except Mathias Pogba to jointly pay this sum to the former Juve player.

During the investigation, Paul said he paid €100,000 ($104,000) to the organised group including his brother.

The case became public after Mathias Pogba posted threats on social media to share “explosive” revelations about his brother, fellow French star Kylian Mbappé and Paul Pogba’s agent Rafaela Pimenta. Mathias was also a football player who spent most of his career with lower-tier teams in Europe.

Once one of the world’s top midfielders, Pogba has made the headlines in recent years more often for his off-field problems than for his sporting ability.

Earlier this month, Juventus said it came to “a mutual agreement” with Pogba to cancel his contract despite the France World Cup winner having a ban for doping slashed last month.

The Serie A club never seemed overly enthusiastic about welcoming Pogba back after his four-year ban for doping was reduced to 18 months following an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Pogba will be free to resume his career in March.

Pogba tested positive for testosterone in August last year and was handed the maximum punishment by Italy’s anti-doping court.

But CAS judges cut Pogba’s ban as they acknowledged a lack of intent and said his positive test was the result of erroneously taking a supplement prescribed to him by a medical doctor in Florida. Pogba’s contract with Juventus was set to expire in June 2026.

In 2016, Pogba became the then-most expensive player in history when he joined Manchester United from Juventus for a fee of €105 million ($116m).

The 2018 World Cup winner is without a club following the mutual termination of his contract with Juventus. He can return to competitive football in March after his ban for taking a prohibited substance was reduced from four years to 18 months.

Injuries limited him to just eight Serie A appearances in his second spell at the club before his ban last year.