On February 13, Noël Le Graët opened the door to a presence of Kylian Mbappé at the Tokyo Olympic Games next summer (July 24 - August 9) with the France Espoirs team (under 23). “I would rather have him at the Olympics, especially for the image. He is a boy who is already on top, said the president of the French Federation (FFF). But I put myself in the place of PSG. They may not really want him to do all the competitions. But I don't think they would object. In terms of image, it would be complicated for them. And for us, complicated not to select it. "
FFF officials did not take long to put their ideas into practice. According to our information, Kylian Mbappé (21) is part of the pre-list established by the coach of the Hopes Sylvain Ripoll for the Olympic Games. This does not mean that the PSG striker will automatically appear on the final list of 19 players (16 field players and three goalkeepers) which will be sent to the IOC (International Olympic Committee) at the start of the summer. The CNOSF (French National Olympic and Sports Committee) must in fact make commitments to the organizing committee of the Tokyo Games before July 6, 2020 at midnight. In the meantime, Ripoll must submit the list to DTN and then to the Federation Executive Committee for validation.
A call of the foot for Neymar?
But the Federation is initiating a process which aims to see the 2018 world champion participate in the Olympic tournament in Japan. In this endeavor, federal officials have a significant ally since the player himself has never hidden his ardent desire to participate in the Olympic Games. “Participation in the Olympic Games, I don't have everything. Of course I want to go, but if my club, which is my employer, does not want me to go, I will not go to clash. We will soon talk about it with Leo ( Editor's note: Leonardo, the sports director of PSG) ", declared number 7 in Paris last December.
Leonardo is also the man everyone wants to talk to. Noël Le Graët would like to be able to raise the subject of Mbappé at the Olympic Games with the boss of the Parisian sportsman. But we are able to affirm that to date no meeting has taken place between the two men. We know that the Brazilian is not really excited at the idea of seeing Mbappé cumulate Euro 2020 (June 12 - July 12) and OJ in such a short time. “We have to manage our player, protect him and not expose him. A player like Kylian Mbappé must be protected and defended. He also needs rest but we will consider all aspects when talking about it gently, "he said in December.
The fact remains that Mbappé's participation in the Olympic Games is also an issue in the discussions on the extension of the Bondy nugget contract at PSG. And if the Federation pushes for its participation, we do not see why Mbappé would not do the same with his club. Especially since he could be seduced at the prospect of facing his teammate Neymar during the Olympic tournament. The latter also expressed the desire to defend his title won in 2016 with Brazil in Rio de Janeiro. And Friday, the Brazilian media Globo Esporte claimed that Rogério Caboclo, the president of the Brazilian federation contacted Nasser Al-Khelaïfi, the president of the PSG, in order to find an agreement.