Payments made by the Real Madrid forward are under investigation by French authorities
Donations made by Real Madrid forward Kylian Mbappe to French police officers were “completely lawful”, legal counsel for one of the officers has said.
Authorities in France are currently investigating payments made by the France international to five police officers during the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
The payments are said to have been made by the player as a gesture of goodwill after the officers provided security for the France team during the competition. However, they could potentially have breached French regulations about private donations to public officials.
Mbappe divided his World Cup bonus among the five recipients. Four officers each received €30,000 while their commanding officer got a larger share of €60,300.
Investigations are not about Mbappe’s conduct but whether the officers receiving the money complied with necessary legal obligations such as declaring the funds.
Jean-Baptiste Soufron, legal counsel for the officer who received the €60,300 share, said that the payments were “made by cheque” and therefore “did not need to be declared”.
A year after the donations were made, Mbappe was accompanied by the same police officer for personal security on a trip to Cameroon, and this has led to questions about the connection between them and the legitimacy of the payments.
Soufron said: “It makes no sense to make a retrospective link with the interventions carried out by my client in 2023 with Mbappe during public trips.
“My client’s interventions did not receive any compensation and fell within his normal role as head of security for the FFF.”
