Mbappe under fire for skipping France duty
France captain Kylian Mbappe is facing criticism in his home country for skipping Les Bleus' Nations League games against Israel and Belgium while being available to play for Real Madrid.
The forward picked up a muscle injury last month but made his return to the pitch in the Champions League last Wednesday.
France coach Didier Deschamps left Mbappe out of the squad he announced on Thursday, saying the 25-year-old lacked preparation, having played too few matches.
Mbappe started Real's La Liga game against Villarreal on Saturday. "Either you're injured, and you don't play with your club and you're not called up in the national team," former France international Maxime Bossis told French sports daily L'Equipe on Monday. "But when you come off the bench in the Champions League and you start a league game, it makes things fuzzy. He's a special player. We've known that with Michel Platini, when we still wanted him with us when he was injured."
Mbappe's situation is more complicated because the former Paris St Germain player is the national team captain after being handed the armband ahead of Antoine Griezmann, who last week announced his retirement from international football.
Griezmann's commitment to Les Bleus was never in doubt as the Atletico Madrid forward played a record 84 consecutive matches for his country between 2017 and 2024.
"As a captain (Mbappe) must be an example for the fans, and he has not been," Fabien Bonnet, spokesperson for the Irresistibles Francais, the main France supporters' group, told L'Equipe. "What emerges is that the real captain, Antoine Griezmann, is gone."
France, second in Group A, face Israel in Budapest on Thursday and travel to Belgium next Monday. (Reporting by Julien Pretot; Editing by Ed Osmond)
Man City, EPL
welcome ruling on sponsorship deals
Manchester City and the Premier League on Monday welcomed a decision by an arbitration panel into the English club's alleged violations of the league's rules on Associated Party Transactions (APT).
The panel ruled that parts of the Premier League's rules on APT were in breach of British competition law and were also unlawful because clubs were unable to comment on types of data the league would take into account. The Premier League's decision in relation to two transactions - a deal with First Abu Dhabi Bank and another with Etihad Aviation group, both in 2023 - were "reached in a procedurally unfair manner" and must be overturned, the panel also ruled.