Paris St Germain not obliged to release Kylian Mbappe for Olympics
Paris Saint-Germain have the right to not let star striker Kylian Mbappe play for France at the Tokyo Olympics, national coach Didier Deschamps admitted on Tuesday.
"PSG, and maybe other clubs elsewhere, have taken a position and that is within their right," Deschamps said in Amsterdam, where he was attending the draw for the next Nations League.
His comments came after French sports daily L'Equipe reported earlier that PSG had written to the French Football Federation (FFF), telling them that they would not allow the 21-year-old World Cup winner to participate in the quadrennial meet in Japan.
Clubs are not obliged to release players for the Olympic football tournament, which does not fall within official Fifa international dates.
The Olympics are due to run from July 24 to Aug 9, which clashes with the start of the next French Ligue 1 season on Aug 7.
Meanwhile, Mbappe will be part of the France squad at Euro 2020, which will run from June 12 to July 12.
"This concerns me without it concerning me, because I am not the coach (of the Olympic team), that's Sylvain Ripoll. These are the Olympic Games, which are happening outside of Fifa dates, and the clubs are the employers of the players," added Deschamps.
Mbappe has stated on several occasions his wish to play for France at the Olympics and FFF President Noel Le Graet earlier confirmed that the striker had been included in an initial long list of 80 names for the tournament. - AFP
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