Cyrille de la Morinerie, edited by Gauthier Delomez 6:15 a.m., September 21, 2022
With their XXL salary, football stars attract envy and some are victims of racketeering.
Sometimes it turns into extortion, as in the Paul Pogba case.
A far from isolated case in the world of football, where these practices are more and more common.
The Paul Pogba affair has highlighted the dangers that await football stars.
With their XXL salary, football stars attract envy and some are victims of racketeering.
Crooked agents, relatives, childhood friends... Many people gravitate around the big names in football in the hope of obtaining financial assistance, and sometimes it turns into extortion, as for the world champion Paul Pogba, who filed a complaint and was placed under police protection.
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Like the middle of the Blues, some players in the game have the courage to file a complaint, unlike other players who are victims of pressure from those around them who demand crazy sums.
increasingly common practices
However, according to Jean Pierre Bernes, historical agent, these practices are more and more common in the environment.
"It's a phenomenon that is growing because football is a buoyant economy, and from the moment it's a strong economy, you attract envy, jealousy," he explains at the microphone. from Europe 1.
Fabrice Fiorese was the victim of an attempted kidnapping.
The former PSG and OM player was attacked in his house by a commando of three hooded criminals.
Former Lille resident Florent Balmont found himself with a gun to his head during the burglary of his house.
As for striker Emmanuel Adebayor, the Togo star suffered such pressure from his family that he almost ended his life.
Some footballers can be ruined
"It was in my room in Metz. My big brother who was in Germany came to see me, I had to empty my account (...) My big sister does not believe me, my mother does not believe me … I thought of suicide“, he told Canal+.
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The other scourge are these badly advised footballers, like Cédric Hengbart, author of a solid career in Ligue 1. The former defender of AJ Auxerre earned several tens of thousands of euros per month for several seasons.
He delegated the management of his money to friends who claimed to be real estate whiz.
Today, the ex-footballer is ruined.
"You have to be careful," he thunders to Europe 1. "I have a file of over-indebtedness to get out of it, otherwise I could never have repaid what I could."
To avoid such disappointments, some stars turn to lawyers like Kylian Mbappé.