The France men’s national team and scandal go together like a baguette and Brie. If France were to go into a World Cup without some kind of controversy hanging over the team, it would almost be a scandal unto itself.
But Les Bleus have really outdone themselves with this latest affair, involving two of their best players, extortion, gangsters and, perhaps most importantly, an alleged witch doctor’s curse.
The details, honestly, are a bit unnecessary to understanding the sheer ridiculousness of this entire scandal. Let’s just read this tweet to get a feel for what we are dealing with here.
Kylian Mbappé & his entourage are “keeping a close eye from a distance” on the Paul Pogba affair – if video evidence emerges of Pogba using a witch doctor to curse Mbappé, L’Équipe believe that there may be a problem between Pogba & Mbappé & Deschamps may have to make a decision.
— Get French Football News (@GFFN) August 29, 2022
This is truly a work of art, each word more insane than the last.
To briefly summarize France’s latest national team scandal: Paul Pogba has claimed he is being threatened and targeted for extortion by gangsters, including his older brother Mathias, who are demanding €13 million in exchange for not releasing some compromising videos.
What, exactly, is on those videos? Well reader, that’s where we get to the witch doctor.
On Monday, night L’Equipe reported that there may indeed be video evidence of Pogba using a witch doctor to curse Mbappé. France coach Didier Deschamps and federation president Noël Le Graët have apparently been aware of the issue since March, when Pogba informed them of the extortion attempt.
Mbappé, understandably, would reportedly be a bit dismayed to see his teammate, and fellow 2018 World Cup winner, using dark magic to put a curse on him.
L’Equipe said Pogba hasn’t yet called Mbappé to provide his version of events. There also is the question of why one of France’s stars would want to curse another one of its stars just before a World Cup (or, you know, ever).
The World Cup is still a few months away, so there really is no telling where this scandal will be by the time the tournament starts. The encouraging news for anybody not hoping to see France repeat as champions, though, is that it seems to only be getting started.
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