A Paris labour court has ordered Paris Saint-Germain to pay Kylian Mbappé €60 million in unpaid salary and bonuses, providing a partial solution to one of the most high-profile legal conflicts in French football.
The decision, made on Tuesday, is the result of the legal proceedings that took place over several months after the French forward blamed PSG for withholding his payments for April, May, and June 2024 before his departure to Real Madrid on a free transfer.
The court understood that PSG had not paid Mbappé’s salary for three months, an ethics bonus and a signing bonus that were provided for in his employment contract. These payments had, in fact, been acknowledged as due by two rulings of the French Professional Football League in September and October 2024. The judges pointed out that PSG was unable to produce any written document in which the player would have given up his rights.
The court did not accept PSG’s argument that Mbappé should give up the unpaid sums and therefore rejected their claim. However, it also dismissed a number of additional claims of the player, including the assertion of moral harassment and hidden work. It was also decided by the judges that the fixed-term contract of Mbappé cannot be considered as a permanent one, thus, the amount for potential compensation will be limited.
PSG had claimed that Mbappé was disloyal by postponing his decision not to renew.
Mbappé’s lawyers, however, regarded the ruling as a victory and said it confirmed that labour law is equally applicable in professional football.
