Paul Pogba’s brother sentenced to three years for extortion case

The older brother of Paul Pogba, former Manchester United midfielder, has been sentenced to three years in prison, two of them suspended, after being found guilty of trying to extort money from the French footballer.

Mathias Pogba, who was also fined €20,000 (£16,500), will avoid time behind bars and instead serve a one-year sentence with an electronic bracelet.

Five other men were convicted of extortion and other crimes and received sentences of between four and eight years in a Paris court on Thursday.

Paul Pogba, 31, said he had been “deceived by childhood friends” who held him at gunpoint in 2022 and demanded €13m (£10.8m) from him. He said he paid them €100,000 (£82,600).

Mathias Pogba’s lawyer, Mbeko Tabula, told RMC Sport that the sentence was “extremely harsh” and stated that “I think we will appeal.”

The other five defendants were sentenced to the following sentences: Roushdane K was sentenced to eight years, Boubacar C to four years, two of them suspended, Adama C to five years, Mamadou M to five years and 12 months suspended, and Machikour K to four years and three years of suspension.

Last year, Paul Pogba told Al Jazeera that he had He considered retiring from football due to the extortion attempt.

“When there is money you have to be careful,” he said. “Money changes people. It can divide a family. It can create a war.”