Illustrative photo by Paul Pogba.
IMAGO/Matthias Koch
The day after the judgment which condemned his brother and his childhood friends in the resounding affair of his kidnapping, footballer Paul Pogba said he wanted to “turn the page” in a statement sent to AFP on Friday evening.
“There is no winner in this case which involves members of my family and people I have known since childhood,” the French international said through his lawyer.
On Thursday, the Paris criminal court sentenced Mathias Pogba, his older brother, and five childhood friends to sentences of up to eight years in prison.
Not present at trial
Mathias Pogba was sentenced to one year in prison under an electronic bracelet. The other defendants in this highly publicized trial were all sentenced to prison terms of up to eight years and fines of 20,000 to 40,000 euros, for extortion, kidnapping as well as participation in a criminal association. .
“I can finally turn the page on this extremely painful period. This conclusion is an opportunity for everyone to focus on the future,” the former Juventus Turin player, who did not wish to attend the trial, wrote to AFP.
His absence had been denounced by defense lawyers. “We missed him a lot at the hearing,” said Steve Ruben, lawyer for one of the defendants, in his pleading. “We read his statements but we would have liked to have answers to our questions because he made evolving comments,” he explained.
Ambush
The Pogba affair started on the night of March 19 to 20, 2022 with an ambush set up against Paul Pogba in an apartment in Seine-et-Marne. Two hooded men held him up at gunpoint with the aim of extracting 13 million euros from him.
The affair came to light after the broadcast in August 2022 of videos on Mathias Pogba's social networks in which the latter accused Paul of having harassed Kylian Mbappé.
“Now that the judgment has been rendered, I can fully concentrate on my return to professional football,” added the player, without a club since the termination of his contract with Juventus Turin at the end of November.
Reduced suspension
The 31-year-old French international tested positive for testosterone, which resulted in him being suspended since September 2023. But his sanction was reduced on appeal and he will be able to return to competition next March.
Paul Pogba grew up in a housing estate in Roissy-en-Brie, a large suburb of Paris, surrounded by very close friends whom he did not forget once success came and whom he regularly helped financially.
During his hearings before the investigating judge in September 2023, he declared that “despite everything that happened, they will always have a place in my heart (…) They were like my family”.
(afp)
