Kylian Mbappe seriously considered putting an end to his international career after France’s elimination from the European Championship last year. Not because of his missed penalty against Switzerland – as the president of the French Football Association claimed – but because of racism.
Federal president Noël le Graet referred in the French newspaper on Sunday Le Dimanche Du Dimanche to a conversation he had with Mbappé after the eighth finals at the European Championship against Switzerland. France lost that game on penalties, partly due to a miss by Mbappé.
“We saw each other in my office for five minutes,” Le Graet noted. “He was angry and didn’t want to play in the French team anymore. Which in the end he didn’t really mean.”
According to Le Graet, Mbappé felt that the French federation did not support him enough. “You know what it is, he’s a winner. He was very frustrated, like all of us, with the elimination. But he’s a great guy, much more of a team player than everyone thinks.”
Mbappe: ‘Missed penalty didn’t matter’
Hours after the article was published, a sore Mbappé responded on Twitter. According to the 57-fold, Le Graet’s reading is not correct.
“I explained to him that I was considering quitting because of racism and NOT because of the penalty. But he was of the opinion that there had been no racism…”
Le Graet, in turn, responded by saying that there had been a misunderstanding. “I agree with him (on the text of his tweet, ed). I understood everything and there is no problem with Kylian. I am still very fond of him.”
The eighty-year-old president of the federation claimed two years ago that racism in football “doesn’t exist or hardly exists”. At the time, that statement came in for a lot of criticism.
Kylian Mbappé missed a penalty in the eighth finals against Switzerland.
Kylian Mbappé missed a penalty in the eighth finals against Switzerland. Photo: AFP