A Paris court on Thursday sentenced a brother of France midfielder Paul Pogba to a three-year prison term, with two years suspended, after convicting him in a high-profile extortion case. Mathias Pogba, the elder brother of the ex-Manchester United player, will be able to serve his one-year sentence at home while wearing an electronic device rather than behind bars. The court also fined Paul Pogba’s brother 20,000 euros for participating in the attempted extortion of 13 million euros ($13.5 million) from Pogba in 2022, and for putting pressure on the player, his family and his business contacts to obtain the payment.

Mathias Pogba’s lawyer Mbeko Tabula said the ruling was “extremely harsh,” adding he planned to appeal.

“He’s obviously in a state of shock,” he said of his client.

“From the outset, he has maintained his innocence, saying that he was manipulated, that he was coerced, that he was pressured, that he would never have acted negatively towards his brother.”

The trial came on top of professional woes for Paul Pogba, whose career has been far from smooth since France’s 2018 World Cup win when he scored against Croatia in the final.

The 31-year-old suffered through repeated injuries and patchy form that led to his departure from Manchester United in 2022. He returned for a second stint at Juventus, where problems continued to dog him.

He is serving a suspension for doping which was reduced to 18 months on appeal and he will be free to play again in March next year, but last month Juventus terminated his contract.

The extortion case involving six men linked to Paul Pogba has shocked the French football world because the alleged perpetrators included three childhood friends and Pogba’s own brother.

The five other defendants were found guilty of extortion, sequestration and detention, as well as participation in a criminal gang, and sentenced to up to eight years in prison, as well as fines of between 20,000 euros and 40,000 euros.

The court also said Paul Pogba had suffered economic damages worth 197,000 euros and psychological damages of 50,000 euros.

Only the kidnapping charge was not retained, as suggested by the public prosecutor.

Roushdane K., considered to be the mastermind behind the affair, was sentenced to eight years in prison.

Mathias was the one to go public in the case, publishing a video on social media in August 2022 promising revelations about his younger brother that were “likely to be explosive”.

In a subsequent clip, Mathias accused Paul Pogba of casting an evil spell on his international team-mate Kylian Mbappe through a witch doctor.

Pogba told French investigators he had in March 2022 been “tricked by childhood friends” from the Paris suburb where he and Mathias grew up.

He accused them of snatching him before he was held at gunpoint by two hooded men with assault rifles who demanded 13 million euros for “services rendered” and blamed him for not helping them financially.

Pogba said at the time had paid them only 100,000 euros.

Indian cricket stalwart Virat Kohli turned 36 on Tuesday, and received an outpouring of wishes from people worldwide. One of the people to wish Kohli on his birthday was French footballer Paul Pogba. In an amusing appearance on a livestream with popular American YouTuber ‘IShowSpeed’, Pogba wished Kohli on his birthday. Pogba has been out of football action for more than a year, having last played in September 2023 for Juventus. Pogba is currently serving an 18-month ban due to doping.

During the livestream, Speed (real name Darren Jason Watkins Jr) asked Pogba whether he knew who Kohli is. Upon showing his picture and mentioning to him that he’s a cricketer, Pogba appeared to recognize.

Speed & Paul pogba wished Happy Birthday to Virat Kohli pic.twitter.com/nYH60pg7AQ

— Gaurav (@Melbourne__82) November 5, 2024

“Happy Birthday bro (brother), long life!” said Pogba, while wishing Kohli on his birthday. Kohli turned 36 on Tuesday, November 5. 

Speed also told Pogba that Kohli is one of the best cricketers in the world, describing Kohli as a “legend”.

Pogba’s wish to Kohli was one of the highlights of his surprise appearance on Speed’s channel. The duo also engaged in football and video game challenges during the collaboration.

Pogba had been handed a four-year ban due to doping, which was later reduced to 18 months. He is eligible to resume training from January, and can appear competitively from March.

Meanwhile, Kohli’s form has come under intense scrutiny following India’s 0-3 home Test series whitewash at the hands of New Zealand. The batter managed just 93 runs in three Tests in the recently-concluded series.

As per a report by Hindustan Times, Kohli chose to spend his birthday with wife Anushka Sharma at his restaurant chain One8 Commune.

Kohli is next set to play in the five-Test Border-Gavaskar Trophy series against Australia in Australia. The series gets underway on November 22. Kohli only played one of the four Tests when India last toured Australia in 2020/21.

File photo of Paul Pogba.© AFP