Is a new crisis looming at PSG? Kylian Mbappé expressed his disagreement Thursday with the use of his image for the 2023-2024 season campaign for the Parisian club. “PSG is a great club and a great family but it is definitely not Kylian Saint-Germain,” wrote the soccer star on his Instagram account.
The video, which was supposed to be intended only for Parc des Princes subscribers, was available on YouTube on Thursday evening, where it is displayed as “unlisted” and therefore not available in search results. It had been made unavailable on Thursday afternoon before being unavailable again, without any modifications.
“This video was not validated by the PSG communication department before being published,” said a source close to the matter, adding that explanations had taken place in the afternoon with the entourage of the French national team captain.
“The PSG is a great club and a great family but it is definitely not Kylian Saint-Germain,” wrote the star of the Parisian club after seeing the promotional campaign where he is featured.
“I was never informed about the content of the interview with my interlocutor,” he added, “and it looked like a basic interview during a club marketing day. I do not agree with this published video.”
Mbappé is the only one speaking in the promotional film for the 2023-2024 season subscription campaign, in which the other Parisian superstars, Lionel Messi, who could leave the club owned by Qatar at the end of his contract in June, and Neymar, who is injured, do not appear.
The promising Parisian “Titis” Warren Zaïre-Emery, Ismaël Gharbi, and Ilyes Housni, as well as the Portuguese international Nuno Mendes, appear in the clip, as does the stadium gardener.
Filmed, sitting alone in the stands of the Parc des Princes, Mbappé talks about the fans. “The 12th man is what brings us an extra strength to fight our battles,” he said. “To be Parisian is to be proud of who we are, of what we represent (…) and to never forget where we come from.”
Mbappé had already taken a stand to defend the individual image rights of the French national team players. In March 2022, he had refused to participate in a photo shoot with the sponsors of the French team, as he denounced the convention that obliged selected players to submit to the FFF’s advertising operations. He reiterated his statements during another gathering in September 2022.
At PSG, this is not the first time the French striker has made public statements against his club. In October, after emphasizing that he preferred his role in the French national team, which he calls himself a “pivot,” to his role at Paris SG, he added to this by writing on Instagram the hashtag “#pivotgang” following the dull match against Reims (0-0).
After two consecutive defeats in Ligue 1 against Rennes and Lyon, PSG, which has only six points ahead of Lens and Marseille, travels to Nice on Saturday.
With AFP
