Mathias Pogba denies extortion attempt against brother Paul
Mathias Pogba claims he is a "complete stranger" with regards to accusations of a failed extortion attempt against his brother and star footballer Paul Pogba.
Mathias Pogba made a family feud public a fortnight ago when he released a TikTok video claiming he would make "great revelations" about his sibling, Paul Pogba's lawyer Rafaela Pimenta, and Kylian Mbappe.
In a statement, Paul Pogba said he was not surprised by Mathias' actions and revealed he had been the subject of an extortion attempt by his brother and childhood friends.
According to a Franceinfo report, the gang tried to get €13 million ($13.2 million) from Pogba, who paid them just €100,000 ($101,500) to try and buy time and keep them quiet about the scandal.
The controversy has also entailed Mathias Pogba accusing Paul Pogba of contracting a west African religious figure known as a Marabout to harm France teammate Mbappe by casting a spell on him.
But as two judges investigate the allegations, Mathias Pogba has said through his lawyer Richard Arbib that he is a "complete stranger" to the extortion attempt against Paul Pogba and wants "more than anything else" to ease tensions with the Russia 2018 World Cup winner.
While Paris Saint Germain sensation Mbappe called both men to try and get to the bottom of the saga and understand why his name had been dragged into it, the 23-year-old allayed some of Pogba's fears of missing the World Cup by backing his colleague at a Champions League prematch press conference on Monday before firing his team to a 2-1 win over Pogba's in Juventus.
"I don't think it will alter my relationship with him," Mbappe predicted when performing his media duties alongside head coach Christophe Galtier.
"As of today, I prefer to trust the word of a teammate. He called me, he gave me his version of the story and as of today, it is his word against his brother's word.
"So I will trust my teammate, in the best [interests] of the national team as well. We have a big competition coming up. He has some issues at the moment so it is not the moment to add to them for him and that's it. We will see what happens. I am pretty detached about it," Mbappe went on.
With L'Equipe previously fearing that France national team manager Didier Deschamps would have to pick between Pogba and Mbappe, this development now doesn't appear as if it will come to pass.
Meanwhile, however, Pogba is still facing a race against time to be fit for Qatar 2022 and will undergo surgery for a knee knock picked up in preseason.
While fretting about making the plane, Pogba also has his legal problems to consider and the case involving his brother could get uglier before Les Bleus kick off against Australia in Group D on November 22.
