Paris Saint-Germain have appealed a decision which would force them to pay former striker Kylian Mbappe €55million in withheld salary and bonuses from his time at the club.
PSG have argued they were entitled to do so because Mbappe’s original contract was “legally amended” in an agreement between the player and the club as he was reintegrated into the first team in the summer of 2023.
Their appeal will be looked at by the National Joint Appeal Committee (CJ), under the protection of the Ligue de Football Professionnel (LFP), the organisation responsible for running the professional football leagues in France.
PSG were told to pay Mbappe the €55million (£46.4m; $60.6m) in a non-binding recommendation by an LFP legal commission last week. That commission had instructed PSG to make the payment by Friday night.
The LFP commission had initially wanted the case to go to mediation, which Mbappe rejected, leading it to make its recommendation that PSG pay the 25-year-old France international.
The case is likely to end up being decided by an employment tribunal, although there are two further points for potential appeals — one with the French Football Federation (FFF) and then with the French National Olympic and Sports Committee (CNOSF) — before it reaches that stage.
PSG’s latest statement read: “With a mediation process then completely refused by the player, the commission was left with no choice but to give an opinion that — very simply — a contractual relationship exists between the parties.
“This is not in debate or disputed whatsoever — what is in debate, and will ultimately be heard before an appropriate tribunal, is that the original contract was legally amended, and also fully relied on, by the player and PSG — until the player then decided to renege all his commitments upon leaving the club.
“Out of principle, PSG has appealed the LFP Commission’s opinion, notwithstanding the limited effect it has. This is because PSG’s position is much more than a sound legal position — it is also a matter of good faith, honesty, upholding values and respect for the institution of Paris and its fans, which is more important than any player.
“As a matter of law and fact, the player has made clear, repeated public and private commitments that the club simply asks are honoured, with the player being afforded simply unprecedented benefits by the club over seven years in Paris.
“The club looks forward to these basic and undeniable commitments being upheld in the proper forum, if the player regrettably seeks to pursue this incomprehensibly reputationally damaging matter further.”
Where does the dispute come from?
The disagreement between the parties stems from a dispute over Mbappe’s contract and whether he would be able to leave PSG “for free”.
This escalated last summer when Mbappe informed PSG that he did not intend to exercise a one-year contract extension, meaning he would depart on a free transfer in 2024. He subsequently joined Real Madrid.
At the time, PSG put Mbappe up for sale and the player was excluded from first-team training and the club’s pre-season tour of Japan and South Korea. He was then reintegrated into the squad after an agreement was reached with the club. In January, Mbappe said the agreement “managed to protect all the parties”.
It is the nature of this agreement that has become a point of contention.
In a letter sent to Mbappe’s lawyer Delphine Verheyden, PSG allege that Mbappe’s legal representation proposed an agreement on August 11, 2023, which would see Mbappe 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, 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, and included two scenarios.
One where Mbappe extended his contract but departed for a transfer fee worth at least €180m (£152m; $198m) in the summer of 2024, with Mbappe receiving a loyalty bonus worth €82m (£69.2m; $90.3m), and another that he would depart in June 2024 on a free transfer but would “revise downwards his remuneration conditions for the 2023-2024 season in line with the return on investment provided for in Case No 1”. In other words, in line with the amount the club would expect to receive from a transfer.
Either scenario would have entitled PSG to €98m (£82.7m; $108m) return on investment, exceeding the amount Mbappe is currently pursuing. Should the case proceed to an employment tribunal, PSG may pursue this larger sum.
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.”
(Odd Andersen/AFP via Getty Images)
