A contract dispute between Paris Saint-Germain and Kylian Mbappe is set to go to an employment tribunal after the Ligue de Football Professionel (LFP) ruled that the club owes the player €55 million (£46.4m; $60.6m) in unpaid salary and bonuses.
The LFP’s advisory joint appeals commission has upheld last month’s legal ruling that PSG owe the France captain the sum. However, the French club has claimed the decision is “non-binding” and stated it will not pay the amount.
PSG appealed last month’s decision requiring them to pay Mbappe’s salary, with the case reviewed by the National Joint Appeal Committee (CJ) under the LFP’s authority.
“The club must pay him the salary he is claiming,” the LFP said in a statement sent to The Athletic. “This decision is not subject to appeal, but may be referred to the FFF executive committee in accordance with the conditions set out in the FFF statutes and regulations.”
The 25-year-old Mbappe rejected an initial recommendation of mediation to resolve the dispute after going unpaid from April to June in the final months of his contract with PSG, prior to joining Real Madrid this summer. The bulk of the disputed payment comes from a €36m (£30m; $38.9m) signing bonus.
PSG argued the non-payment was justified on the basis of financial agreements made between the player and the club last summer. Mbappe formally wrote to the LFP to invoke the commission regarding the lack of payment, and also accused PSG of moral harassment.
While the LFP legal commission have stated their recommendations, they cannot compel either party to mediate or to settle.
PSG highlighted how the LFP legal commission had “repeatedly insisted” for mediation between the parties in September and that they would continue their hopes of finding a “compromise in light of PSG’s clear arguments”, which they claim have been refused by the player.
“What is in debate, and will ultimately be heard before an appropriate tribunal, is that the original contract was legally amended in August 2023 relating to the 2024-2025 season, and also fully recognised by the player including in January 2024 — until the player then decided to renege all his commitments upon leaving the club,” the PSG spokesperson said.
PSG added they have been “forced to bring the case before the competent courts, while continuing, notwithstanding repeated bad faith, to try and find an amicable solution with the player”.
The Ligue 1 side asked for the “basic (contract) commitments to simply be respected” and repeated their position that Mbappe’s claim was one of “bad faith”.
Mbappe’s representatives have been approached by The Athletic for comment.
In a letter sent to Mbappe’s lawyer Delphine Verheyden, PSG alleged that Mbappe’s legal representation proposed an agreement on August 11, 2023, which would see him reduce his bonuses by €55m during the 2023-24 season, a figure reported in L’Equipe.
This led to the player’s reintegration into Luis Enrique’s squad on August 12 — after he was excluded from first-team training and the club’s pre-season tour of Japan and South Korea — but this proposal was not signed nor sent to the league, as would be required under the French Football Charter.
PSG claim that the reason this was not signed was because of a verbal agreement between the club’s president Nasser Al-Khelaifi and Mbappe. This agreement, they argue, was witnessed by head coach Luis Enrique and sporting director Luis Campos.
Without any other agreements, French labour law protects Mbappe’s right to receive his salary, and legal experts have noted that withholding wages may violate these protections.
“In French law, the salary must be paid every month,” explained Deborah David, an employment law specialist with De Gaulle Fleurance, to The Athletic in July. “It is not possible to withhold salary, even if it is to offset the final payment.”
(Top image: Aurelien Meunier – PSG/PSG via Getty Images)
