The police officer, seconded to the French Football Federation (FFF), received a check for 60,300 euros from the current captain of the French national team in June 2023.

A police officer seconded to the French Football Federation (FFF) and a prominent figure in the French national team has been sanctioned by the police leadership with early retirement after receiving a donation from Kylian Mbappé.

A few months after the World Cup in Qatar, this police officer in charge of the security of the French team, now 57 years old, received a check for 60,300 euros from the current captain of Les Bleus in June 2023, coming from his bonus for the 2022 World Cup.

Judicial investigation into undeclared work and money laundering related to tax fraud

This "customary gift" from the Real Madrid striker was reported by a banker to Tracfin, the financial intelligence unit of the French Ministry of Finance, in July 2024, triggering a judicial investigation for undeclared work and money laundering related to tax fraud. A search was conducted a few months ago at the police commander's home, according to a source. Simultaneously, he was the subject of disciplinary proceedings by the IGPN, the General Inspectorate of the National Police.

Forced into early retirement by the DGPN… but brought back into the fold by the FFF

But on December 20, the General Directorate of the National Police (DGPN) decided on his early retirement for not having informed his superiors of this donation, the sources said, confirming information from the newspaper Le Monde.

Before this decision by the DGPN, this figure of the Blues for years and friend of the Mbappé family had asserted his retirement rights to leave on December 31, according to the same sources.

Following this, the French Football Federation (FFF) decided to employ him on a fixed-term contract until at least the World Cup next summer in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. He will be part of the French national team's security staff, but no longer in a police officer capacity.

At the FFF, his work and integrity are praised by several sources, who specify that this position is coveted by many.

The police officer is contesting the penalty

“This story doesn’t hold up legally because this donation is legal and is not contested, and there is a vexatious intent because the commander was due to retire on December 31st. I question the motives for targeting this honest police officer,” reacted former sub-prefect Abdel Aïssou, defending the officer.

A few weeks after receiving this check from Kylian Mbappé, the police commander accompanied the star on a private trip to Cameroon in July 2023.

The administrative inquiry sought in particular to determine whether the former CRS officer had exceeded the scope of his duties, but this point was not taken into account by the DGPN, according to his lawyer Jean-Baptiste Soufron.

An investigation is still ongoing.

"This is a serious disavowal of the IGPN investigation, given that the other charges related to the donation were dropped after the explanations given in the disciplinary council, notably the undeclared or parallel work in Cameroon," said Mr. Soufron on Tuesday, who will contest the sanction before the administrative court.

"The donation received for the 2022 World Cup was legal, made by check and did not need to be declared. It makes no sense to make a retrospective link between this donation and the interventions carried out by my client in 2023 with Kylian Mbappé in the context of public trips," the lawyer asserted this summer.

Four other chief brigadiers also received 30,000 euros each, bringing the total donations from Kylian Mbappé to 180,300 euros. His entourage asserted several months ago that "everything was done in accordance with the rules," "without any quid pro quo."

When contacted on Tuesday, the player's entourage declined to comment further.