Six men linked to Juventus and France midfielder Paul Pogba face trial from Tuesday, accused of blackmail, attempted extorsion of millions of euros and holding the player at gunpoint.
The case at the Paris criminal court has shocked the French football world -- all the more so because the perpetrators include three childhood friends and Pogba's own brother Mathias.
The development comes as Pogba battles professional woes, as Juventus this month cancelled his contract following his suspension until March 2025 for doping.
In total, the group are accused of attempting to squeeze 13 million euros ($13.5 million) out of the player.
Mathias was himself the one to go public in the case, publishing a video on social networks in August 2022 in French, Italian, English and Spanish.
He promised revelations about his younger brother that were "likely to be explosive" while remaining vague about the details.
In a subsequent clip, Mathias accused his younger brother of casting an evil spell on his France teammate Kylian Mbappe.
Paul Pogba's lawyers and his agent Rafaela Pimenta said in a statement later in August 2022 that the videos "came on top of threats and attempts at extortion as part of a criminal gang" against their client.
He had already filed criminal complaints in Italy and France in July that year.
Pogba told French investigators that he had in March 2022 been "tricked by childhood friends" from the neighbourhood in Roissy-en-Brie outside Paris 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, demanding 13 million euros for "services rendered" -- blaming the footballer for failing to help them financially since his professional success.
Pogba said at the time that he had paid them only 100,000 euros.
The footballer said he had also been pressured at the France national team's training centre in Clairefontaine, at one of his homes in Manchester, and at Juventus' training ground.
Pogba added that he had also paid a bill of more than 57,000 euros that the same friends had racked up at the Adidas store on Paris' glitzy Champs-Elysees avenue.
Paul Pogba's lawyer Pierre-Jean Douvier declined to comment ahead of the case when contacted by AFP.
- 'Like my family' -
A police overview of the case seen by AFP calls the childhood friends and other acquaintances of Paul Pogba "a criminal team... with the objective of extracting 13 million euros from Paul, who had cut them off financially" early in 2022.
All of the accused deny the allegations, claiming they themselves were victims of the hooded men who held Paul Pogba at gunpoint who have never been identified.
All five face charges of extorsion, kidnapping and forming a criminal gang.
Mathias Pogba, who was not present the night his brother was snatched, is suspected of "pressuring his brother Paul and his family to ensure the payment of the sum of 13 million euros".
He is charged with attempted extorsion and forming a criminal gang.
Mathias Pogba's lawyer Mbeko Tabula said he would not comment until the end of the trial.
Mathias claimed months ago that he was only a "puppet" in the extorsion affair, making an emotional appeal to see his brother again.
"I hope our bond will be strengthened again" through a meeting, he said at the time.
The so-called "Pogba affair" has put in the spotlight brotherly ties poisoned by competition and money, but also the difficulty professional footballers can face keeping up friendships with those who knew them before their success.
"Despite everything that's happened, they'll always have a place in my heart... they were like my family," Paul Pogba said in September 2023 after he and the defendants were jointly questioned by investigators.
By Céline Bruneau