 "French president Emmanuel Macron remains hopeful of star forward Kylian Mbappe representing Les Bleus at the Paris Olympics later this year. Reuters")
Paris: French President Emmanuel Macron said Saturday he hoped star footballer Kylian Mbappe would be freed up by his likely future club Real Madrid to take part in the Paris Olympics for France.
“I’m counting on Real Madrid to free up Kylian for the Olympic Games so he can come play with the French team,” Macron said in a video posted on X, formerly Twitter.
Mbappe confirmed on Friday that he will leave French champions Paris Saint-Germain at the end of the season, with Real Madrid widely expected to be his next destination.
Real Madrid has already said that it will not lift its players’ obligations to the club in favour of their participation in the Olympics Games which are not part of the FIFA-designated international tournaments for which clubs must free up their players.
The 25-year-old World Cup-winning forward and France captain said himself last week that he wasn’t “thinking much” about the Games.
Mbappe will lead France at Euro 2024 which runs from 14 June to 14 July in Germany.
The Olympic football competition begins on 24 July and runs to 9 August, with France in a group alongside the United States, New Zealand and another side still to be determined.