Kylian Mbappé reportedly said his club team, Paris Saint-Germain, is on board with him playing for France at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Mbappé, who last week signed a three-year extension to stay in Paris through the Olympics, indicated Monday that the club will release him to play at the Games, should he be chosen for the team, according to multiple French reports.
Olympic soccer roster rules for 2024 haven’t been published yet, but, traditionally, men’s teams are allowed three players over the age of 23. Mbappé will be 25 come the Paris Games.
Mbappé, the breakout of France’s 2018 World Cup champion team, was not on France’s roster for the Tokyo Games.
PSG had no choice but to let Mbappé play at the European Championship last June and July. But clubs control player availability for the Olympics. Most stars do not compete in two major tournaments in one summer for national teams. Clubs prefer they rest ahead of their league seasons.
Without Mbappé, France was eliminated in group play in Tokyo after losses to Mexico and Japan.
PSG wrote a letter to the French Football Federation (FFF) in early 2020, before the Olympic postponement, indicating Mbappé would not be released, according to L’Equipe.
If Mbappé plays at the Paris Games, it will be reminiscent of 2016, when FC Barcelona allowed Neymar to play at his home Olympics in Rio.
Barelona and Neymar struck a deal. Neymar sat out that summer’s Copa America Centenario. Mbappé’s other possible tournament in summer 2024 is the European Championship hosted by Germany.
