Kylian Mbappe of Paris Saint-Germain looks on in the Coupe de France final against Olympique Lyonnais at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy in Villeneuve-d'Ascq, France, May 25, 2024. /CFP
Ligue 1's legal commission has ordered Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) to pay 55 million euros (about $61 million) to former player Kylian Mbappe, the French top football league announced on Thursday.
One day earlier, Mbappe rejected a mediation offer by the commission in his dispute with PSG. The striker left the French heavyweights this summer as a free agent and joined Real Madrid. He asked the commission to get involved and, after Wednesday's meeting, to take note of the nonpayment of three months of salary and the final third of a loyalty bonus.
PSG have expressed no intention to pay and say they will take further legal action.
"In light of the limitations of the commission's legal scope to take a complete decision on this matter, the matter must now be contested in another legal forum, to which Paris Saint-Germain is delighted to present all the facts over the coming months and year," the club said.
PSG claim that they don't owe Mbappe any money because, according to a reported agreement ahead of the 2023-24 campaign, the forward allegedly stipulated that he would relinquish bonuses over his reintegration into the team. He was sidelined during that time after deciding not to prolong his contract with the club.
"As a matter of law and fact, the player has made clear, repeated public and private commitments that must be respected, having been afforded unprecedented benefits by the club over seven years in Paris," PSG said. "And the club looks forward to these being upheld in the proper forum, if the player seeks to pursue this incomprehensibly reputationally damaging matter further, in due course."
Mbappe scored a club record 256 goals and delivered 108 assists in 308 games for PSG over seven seasons, helping the team win six Ligue 1 championships and four Coupe de France titles among other trophies.