Asking for 55 million euros! French media: Kylian Mbappe’s salary dispute with Paris Saint-Germain is about to go to court

"Le Parisien" reported that the dispute between Mbappe and Paris Saint-Germain will be heard in court on November 17. The two parties will skip the mediation process and directly confront the labor dispute court.

In addition to recovering the 55 million euros in bonuses and wages withheld by the club, Mbappe also made a key legal claim: asking the court to determine that the contract he previously signed with Paris was an "indefinite contract" rather than a "fixed-term contract" commonly used in professional sports. The core of this appeal is to "establish a precedent" and "fight for high compensation."

Although the 2015 French law stipulates that professional athletes should usually sign fixed-term contracts, Mbappe's legal team cited the successful precedent of the "Rabiot case". In this case, Paris Saint-Germain adopted "hiding" measures against Rabiot because he refused to renew his contract. The court found it to be an abuse of disciplinary sanctions. In the end, the contract was changed to an indefinite period, and Paris had to pay more than 1 million euros in compensation. Mbappe's experience is highly similar to this. In the summer of 2023, he was removed from the professional team list because he made it clear that he would not renew his contract, and was not reactivated until the first round of Ligue 1.

Mbappe positioned this lawsuit as "an employee versus an employer who maliciously owed wages." If the court supports changing the nature of the contract to an indefinite period, Mbappe will have the right to claim huge dismissal compensation, payment in lieu of notice and illegal dismissal compensation based on his high salary and seven-year service period. The total amount may reach astonishing figures.

The impact of this case goes far beyond the economic scope. Analysts in the legal community pointed out that if Mbappe wins the case and becomes a precedent, it may completely shake the economic structure of French professional sports. Once player contracts are generally recognized as indefinite, players can leave the team freely by resigning like ordinary employees. The current transfer fee system will face the collapse of the French club's situation in international competition.

It is reported that Mbappe has returned to Madrid and will not attend this hearing. Given the current deadlines for industrial disputes tribunals, the tribunal's judgment will not be handed down for a few months.