Paul Pogba is reportedly under police protection in Turin after threats and blackmail attempts towards him from a criminal group of which his own brother is allegedly a member.
The Frenchman was allegedly the victim of a violent extortion plot by criminals, involving his brother, with the group said to have demanded up to £11.3million (€13m) from the Juventus midfielder. His brother, Mathias, has since been charged in relation to the crimes.
According to Le Parisien (via Football-Italia), Pogba is now under police protection in Turin.
The report claims that a member of the player’s entourage has confirmed the presence of police around the player currently in the Italian city.
Four other individuals have also been charged with offences, judicial sources told news agencies Reuters and Agence France-Presse.
Earlier this month the Paris prosecutor’s office opened a judicial probe into allegations by Paul Pogba that he was the target of extortion attempts and threats from an organised gang.
The 29-year-old Juventus midfielder told the Paris prosecution office that he had been the target of extortion by childhood friends since March and had paid £85,000 (€100,000) to that group in the spring, judicial sources told Reuters this month.
The group is also said to have threatened the player in Manchester in March as well as in Turin in the summer.
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It has also been alleged that Pogba was taken to an apartment in Paris where he was threatened and accused of not providing those close to him with enough money since he became an established professional footballer.
Franceinfo radio claimed that the group, armed with MI6 assault rifles, demanded £11million (€13m) from the French midfielder for ‘protection services’ stretching back 13 years.
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