CNN
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The French Football Federation (FFF) has announced that it will be working on revising its agreement with its national team players regarding the use of their images and rights.
It comes after PSG and France star Kylian Mbappé boycotted sponsorship activities – including a photo shoot – scheduled for Tuesday at the France team’s Clairefontaine training camp.
CNN has reached out to Mbappé’s representatives for comment.
“I decided not to participate in the photo shoot after the French federation refused to change the image rights agreement with the players,” Mbappé said in a statement to ESPN.
“My representatives and I deeply regret that no agreement could be reached, as requested, before the World Cup.”
In a statement on Twitterthe FFF said: “The FFF is delighted to work on the outlines of a new agreement which will allow it to protect its interests while taking into account the legitimate concerns and convictions unanimously expressed by its players.
“Following conclusive discussions with the leaders of the French team, the president, the coach and a marketing manager, the French Football Federation undertakes to revise, as soon as possible, the agreement on the right to the image that binds her to the players of her national team”, declared the FFF. continuous statement.
The National Union of Professional Footballers (UNFP), the association of French players, has no further comment to add at this time.
The rift between Mbappé and the federation began in March when the 23-year-old first boycotted activities with one of the team’s sponsors, according to several French media outlets.
Three months later, FFF president Noël Le Graët told L’Équipe that the image rights deal would not change before the World Cup – a position the federation has now reversed.
Earlier in the year, Mbappé was at the center of a transfer battle between Real Madrid and Paris-Saint-Germain when the subject of image rights once again played a significant role.
In the Spanish club’s fourth offer to the French star, they offered him 50 per cent of the profits from his image rights – a condition that would have helped shift the striker’s preferences to Paris-Saint Germain, who offered a more lucrative percentage, according to sources close to the player, Spanish outlet El País reported.
France will then play Thursday against Austria in the Nations Cup, followed by Denmark three days later.
