- PSG was ordered by the LFP legal committee to pay their former player
- The French giants refused and now the pay dispute will be taken to court
- LISTEN NOW: It all starts!available wherever you get your podcasts. New episodes every Monday and Thursday
Paris St Germain will take their pay dispute with Kylian Mbappe to court after the French Football League’s governing body (LFP) ruled in favor of the French captain on Friday.
French media reported that the 25-year-old, who has not commented on the dispute, is demanding around 55 million euros (£46 million) in salary and bonuses that he says he owes the club.
However, the Ligue 1 champions say Mbappe’s contract has been ‘legally modified’ and that he reneged on his obligations when he left the club to join Spanish giants Real Madrid in the final season.
PSG said last month that Mbappe had rejected an offer from the LFP to mediate the matter.
The LFP’s National Joint Appeals Commission heard the parties on October 15 and announced on Friday that it had ruled in favor of Mbappé.
‘The club must pay him the salary he demands. This decision is not subject to appeal but may be referred to the Executive Committee of the FFF (French Football Federation),” the LFP told Reuters.
However, PSG said they would be “forced to take the matter to the competent courts” while still trying to find an “amicable solution” with Mbappe, who became the club’s all-time top scorer during his seven-year stay in the capital became a French club. .
‘What is in dispute, and will ultimately be heard before a competent court, is that the original contract was legally amended in August 2023 in relation to the 2024-2025 season, and was also fully recognized by the player, also in January 2024 – until the player then decided to give up all his obligations when he left the club,” a PSG spokesperson said.
‘It is a matter of law and fact that the player has made clear, repeated public and private commitments which the club simply requests are fulfilled, with the player receiving unprecedented benefits from the club for seven years in Paris.
‘The club hopes that these basic obligations will simply be respected, knowing that the club will be forced to have the player’s bad faith assessed by the competent courts if the player unfortunately wishes to continue this incomprehensibly damaging dispute, for himself and for the French football, onwards .’
Mbappe’s representatives were not immediately available for comment.
In January, Mbappe had said he had reached an agreement with PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi that would “protect all parties and maintain the calm of the club for the challenges ahead.”