The Professional Football League of Spain (LFP) will present, through the French lawyer Juan Branco, a lawsuit before the French Justice to prevent the validation of Kylian Mbappé’s new contract with PSG, considering that it is “illegal” because it violates the UEFA fair play rules.
“We are looking for a new decision like the Bosman (law), which liberalized the market (1995). Now what we want is for the market to be regulated and the (financial) rules of the (Spanish) League to be expanded throughout Europe, which are very strict, ”said Branco at a press conference he organized today in a Parisian hotel.
Branco, 32, explained that the first legal initiative will be to ask the French Sports Minister, Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, to revoke the contractual approvals of all PSG players signed as of June 25, 2021, the date of the last inspection carried out by the French authorities.
This would include both Mbappé’s new contract, valued at an investment of 500 million euros over three years, according to figures from the lawyer, and that of Lionel Messi, signed by PSG in August 2021 and who has also been the subject of a legal proceeding since then led by Branco himself at the request of a group of FC Barcelona partners.
The lawyer hired by the Spanish League announced that he is also preparing an appeal in the administrative field for the French championship to carry out an inspection of PSG’s accounts through the National Directorate of Control and Management (DNCG), a health supervisory body finance of sports entities in France.
“Today, Mbappé cannot play for PSG. We know that it will be difficult (to win in the French Justice), taking into account that President Emmanuel Macron himself has asked him to stay”, assumed the lawyer, famous for his involvement in the “yellow vests” movement and for having represented Julian Assange in France.
Branco said he trusts that this process will finally prosper in the European instances, considering that a club like PSG, owned by a Qatari sovereign wealth fund for 11 years, violates the rules of free competition that govern the EU’s single market.
For this reason, it will urge the European Commission (EC) to rule on this, also taking into account that PSG fails to comply with the balance between income and expenses established by the French championship itself thanks -according to Branco’s complaint- to successive moratoriums granted to the Parisian entity.
“It was planned that this season he would enter 180 million euros in player sales to have financial balance, and he has only sold one player for 7 million, and on top of that he has renewed Mbappé,” he said.
The lawyer denounced “a conflict of interest” between the French League and Qatar, accusing the French authorities of favoring PSG by postponing the application of the financial “fair play” rules because the French championship depends -in his opinion- on Qatari money. .
He also accused that “state clubs or oligarchic clubs” such as PSG or Manchester City undermine European football, by forcing clubs such as Real Madrid or Barcelona, which do respect the regulations, to increase income at tickets to the stadium or the sale of shirts to be able to compete on an equal footing.
The lawyer representing the Spanish League made another more complex and indirect accusation. He argued that Qatar’s heavy investments in PSG force the emirate to raise the price of the gas it sells to Europe.
