A Paris courtroom convicted a brother of French worldwide footballer Paul Pogba and 5 others on Thursday of trying to extort the World Cup winner, French media reported.
Mathias Pogba obtained a three-year sentence, with two of them suspended, after being discovered responsible of organised extortion and tried extortion, the each day L’Equipe mentioned.
He won’t serve time behind bars however should put on an digital bracelet for a yr, it mentioned.
The opposite 5 defendants, a few of them childhood mates, had been handed sentences starting from three to eight years.
Paul Pogba, who performed for English membership Manchester United and Italy’s Juventus, mentioned he had been the goal of extortion in March 2022 and that he had handed over 100,000 euros ($104,000) to those that had threatened him.
Mbeko Tabula, a lawyer for Mathias Pogba, was quoted by RMC Sport as saying his shopper was in shock and would enchantment.
“From the beginning he has maintained his innocence,” he mentioned. “He says he was manipulated, coerced and pressured, that he would by no means have acted negatively in the direction of his brother.”
Mathias Pogba, 34, performed soccer for Guinea and decrease division golf equipment in Europe.
Reuters has contacted Paul Pogba’s representatives for remark.
Paul Pogba, who gained the World Cup with France in 2018, is banned from enjoying till March after testing optimistic for the banned substance DHEA, which boosts testosterone ranges.
Now 31, he hopes to revive his profession after Juventus introduced final month that he and the membership had mutually agreed to terminate his contract. He final performed for France in 2022 and knee surgical procedure prevented him enjoying on the World Cup in Qatar.
