Guillaume Dominguez, edited by Yanis Darras
modified to
7:59 p.m., September 17, 2022
The Pogba affair continues to shake French football. Mathias Pogba, suspected of having kidnapped his brother during a party last March, was heard by a judge this Saturday. But according to information from Europe 1 sport, the football player’s big brother has an alibi and was not present during the kidnapping.
Was Mathias Pogba part of the group of hooded men who sequestered an entire evening in Paris, Paul Pogba, in order to extort him? According to a source familiar with the matter, Mathias Pogba said he was not present on March 20, when his brother Paul Pogba was sequestered in an apartment in the Paris region. The young man would indeed have an alibi.
If the investigators are almost certain that Mathias Pogba was not present that evening, they still suspect the eldest of the siblings of having played another role in the operation. Earlier this week, five men, including Mathias Pogba, were taken into custody. They were presented before an examining magistrate this Saturday afternoon. They would have declared, according to our information, to be themselves victims of blackmailers who would force them to act, refusing to give their name.
Paul Pogba says he recognized his brother
If the motive is common, their versions of the facts contradict each other, according to a source familiar with the matter. In a press release published last week, Mathias Pogba claimed to be totally foreign to any extortion maneuver against his brother. Paul Pogba, himself, affirms in his hearing that at the time of the facts, childhood friends and two hooded men armed with assault rifles, trapped him to claim 13 million euros from him.
Still in front of the investigators, the attacker also claims to have recognized his older brother Matthias among the suspects.