Since September, Kylian Mbappe and Paris Saint-Germain have been locked in a dispute over €55 million in unpaid bonuses from his former club. Although the French league, through two separate committees, ruled in the Real Madrid striker’s favor, the club from the City of Lights is unwilling to pay the sums and intends to go to civil courts if necessary. According to the lawyer for the France captain, Delphine Verheyden, this is an attempt to “escape the rules of football”.
“PSG wants to escape the rules of football. They are ready to dismantle the system rather than meet their obligations. If the governing bodies do not protect their contracts and regulations, we are sending a strong message that says: ‘Players can be trampled on,'” Verheyden told L’Equipe. According to her, of the €55 million demanded by Mbappe, only €25 million will go to him, with the rest being deducted in taxes and social security.
According to the player’s legal representative, PSG is using various regulations to avoid paying the 55 million euros he is demanding. “PSG took the French league to court in Paris, claiming that it has no authority to force a club to meet its obligations. In order to participate in a professional league, PSG must accept the rules. But in the end, they say that the league and the federation have no authority over it as a club.”
“This is becoming a much bigger problem than my client’s case. It could blow up the whole system. By the way, the club is telling all the other clubs very clearly: ‘Stop paying your players, force them to go to the labor court.’ But it takes a year and a half to get a decision in the first instance, two years on appeal and another two years on appeal. They will end their careers before they get paid,” she claims.
Verheyden, who only wants her client Mbappe to receive the unpaid sums, added that she does not seek to impose disciplinary sanctions on PSG, despite the appeal to the French league institutions. “My aim is not to punish PSG. Otherwise, we would have gone to court long ago for damage to the image or psychological harassment. He could have resorted to legal proceedings… All Kylian Mbappe wants is to get what he deserves.”
Last Friday, Verheyden filed a new appeal, this time to the French Federation, with a twofold aim. On the one hand, she hopes that the Supreme Appeals Committee will force PSG to uphold the decisions of the two French league committees – the legal committee on September 11 and the appeal committee on October 25 – which ruled in the player’s favor.
On the other hand, after the French League declared on December 11 that it cannot impose sporting sanctions, the lawyer believes that the French Federation should do so and even turn to UEFA. According to the lawyer, UEFA states that a club that does not meet all its financial obligations may be denied the license necessary to participate in European competitions.
The dispute between Mbappe and PSG will be decided by the French Labor Court, which will hear the arguments of both parties before ruling. The procedure, which has already gone through the French League and the French Federation, may last months or even years, according to sources. Last week, the French League’s legal committee refrained from expressing a position on the player’s request, so the next step may be to turn to ordinary courts.