UPDATE 8/6/2026: Deschamps confirms disagreements
France coach Didier Deschamps has acknowledged the disagreement between his players and the federation.
“There have always been discussions,” he said in his press conference.
“The federations aren’t the players’ employers, so they have image rights. There are charters.
“We try to ensure things go as smoothly as possible each time, but there can be excesses, whether through advertising campaigns or marketing.
“These days, it’s often about grabbing attention, but it’s not always in line with sporting considerations.
“I can be alerted to certain ideas from some partners. There are things I can understand and others I can’t; let’s not exaggerate.
“But still, they have rights, they give very large sums of money. We need to find a balance, without it becoming an insurmountable problem.”
With just four days until kick off at the 2026 World Cup, tension has returned to the France squad.
The 2018 champions are famous for pre-tournament incidents, and the latest is just the next stage in a long-running saga.
France players have regularly disagreed with the federation [FFF] over image rights, and they’ve now been pushed to their limit.
L’Equipe report that the latest drama comes around a betting advert that showed Kylian Mbappe, Rayan Cherki, Desire Doue, Michael Olise, and Ousmane Dembele.
They claim that the players didn’t give permission for their likeness to be used in the campaign and also don’t want to be associated with addictive gambling.
In fact, Mbappe and Cherki have been vocal in voicing their anger with the federation.
L’Equipe add that the call has: “provoked widespread rejection, as many people do not want to be associated with this type of brand.”
Mbappe was particularly defensive over his image rights in 2022, when he rejected several FFF campaigns for gambling and fast food.
Mbappe vs France
In 2023 he then rejected to work with them on events until an agreement was reached in which the FFF said: “This new framework will allow for a balanced and clear relationship regarding the management of the image rights of the team and its players, and will establish a framework for collaboration in the development and monitoring of the agreement’s implementation.”
Mbappe later reflected on the incident in a lengthy interview, saying: “In fact, we didn’t agree with the image rights charter: the junk food, the promotion of sports betting… We are the French national team, we are role models.
“Some of us come from neighbourhoods where that destroys countless people. It has destroyed people I know.”
Already one of the greatest players in World Cup history with multiple goals in finals, Mbappe has had a tricky reputation with France.
Mbappe considered France retirement
Speaking earlier this year on Aurelien Tchouameni’s podcast, he revealed he considered retiring after suffering racist abuse at Euro 2020.
When I missed my penalty against Switzerland, I started receiving monkey insults,” he said in April.
“I went on vacation and was like a walking dead man; I was in shock.
“When I joined the national team, I immediately won the World Cup. I quickly became a national hero and told myself that France was doing very well.
“Then you’re suddenly confronted with all of that, and it’s tough.
“I asked for a meeting with Noël Le Graët [president of the FFF] and told him I wasn’t going to play anymore.”
Mbappe of course later reversed that decision, but explained why he still finds things difficult, especially with the media.
“I’m tired of doing interviews,” he said. “That’s why I don’t do them anymore.
“It’s like a boxing match with the journalist, a question of strength.
“The journalist wants to get statements out of you that you don’t want to make, and you don’t want to say things the journalist wants you to say. That’s why I don’t do them anymore.”
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