The representatives of Paul Pogba have claimed that the Juventus midfielder has been subjected to attempted extortion by organised criminals, after the France star’s brother Mathias publicly threatened to make ‘big revelations’ about his sibling.
Mathias Pogba posted a message in four languages – English, Italian, Spanish and French – on Instagram in which he announced: “upcoming revelations about my brother” that will be “explosive”.
The 32-year-old said he will also disclose information about Rafaela Pimenta, the agent and lawyer of former Manchester United player Paul, and PSG and France star Kylian Mbappe.
Pogba’s representatives released a statement on Sunday in response to the video.
“The recent declarations of Mathias Pogba on social media are unfortunately not a surprise,” read the statement.
“They are coming after threats and attempts of extortion by an organised gang against Paul Pogba. This has been referred to the appropriate authorities both in Italy and in France a month ago.”
French news agency AFP reported that two sources close to the Pogba family said that large sums of money have been demanded from Paul Pogba to avoid the surfacing of the allegedly damaging material.
Mathias Pogba responded to the statement on Twitter on Sunday.
“I hope you won’t be fooled by an attempt to manipulate the media and the authorities,” he wrote.
“When you are famous the world is with you, the authorities listen more attentively. But that doesn’t put you above the law, the police aren’t your minions!”
Mathias Pogba has carved out a football career of his own that included spells in the UK with Wrexham, Crewe Alexandra, Crawley Town and Partick Thistle, and he is currently a free agent after leaving French fourth-tier side ASM Belfort in April.
In the video published on Saturday, he said the public, Paul Pogba’s fans, and the midfielder’s team-mates “deserve to know certain things”.
He said the information he has will allow them to make an “informed decision” about whether his brother “deserves the admiration, respect and love of the public, his place in the French national team and the honour of playing in the World Cup, (and) to start at Juventus”.
Paul Pogba joined Juve on a free transfer this summer after leaving Manchester United at the end of his contract.
The 2018 World Cup winner is yet to feature for the Turin club after struggling with injury issues, but he’s expected to return to action next month.
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