It appears that French officials have initiated a probe into transactions made by Real Madrid ace Kylian Mbappe to five policemen, which gabs are about the funds being for World Cup or personal security. The news is coming from the Daily Mail and Sport citing Le Canard Enchaine.
The fowls say Mbappe wrote a check of €180,300 (£156,330) in June 2023 to the policemen who had the task of protecting the French national team in the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Four officers got €30,000 each and one got a sum of over €60,000.
The moneys received by police agents are in line with the pledge made by Mbappe to hand over all of his World Cup bonus to the security personnel. The footballer even decided to take a lawyer with him to be sure the money would be free of taxes for the recipients.
Nevertheless, interrogators are now gauging if these payments are really meant for work related to the World Cup or if these are the means for the private protection of the player. A situation that needs clarification is the presence of one pilot with Mbappe on the trip to Cameroon and Vaucluse in June 2023 when the player was supposed to be in Paris for a qualifier.
The authorities suspect that the policeman could have “gone beyond the limits of integrity.” Mbappe is quick to assert that he will “answer any questions” as the case proceeds.
This investigation is coincidentally alongside with Mbappe’s action against PSG for non-payment of wages and bonuses amounting to €55 million.