Kylian Mbappe accuses PSG of 'moral harassment, files legal complaint vs ex-club
The prosecutor's office said Mbapp is "denouncing the 'lofting' he claimed to have been subjected to at Paris Saint-Germain.' The word lofting is used in France to describe a practice that involves isolating a player from the main squad for sporting, administrative, or disciplinary reasons.Mbapp joined Real Madrid last summer on a free transfer after scoring a club-record 256 goals in seven years at PSG, which won the Champions League without him this year.Mbapp's relationship with PSG ended amid deep tensions, and some fans booed him in his last home game at Parc des Princes. PSG felt let down by Mbapp after offering him the most lucrative contract in club history when he signed a new contract in 2022.But Mbapp was frustrated because he felt promises to sign key players were not kept. When he signed that deal, he was paraded in front of fans holding up a jersey with 2025 on it. Mbapp was reportedly annoyed because the contract was until 2024 — with a player's option for an extra season.advertisementMbapp stunned PSG in June 2023 by informing the club he would not take the option for an extra year. With his contract effectively into its final year, it put PSG in the position of needing to sell Mbapp to avoid losing him for nothing when the contract expired.His PSG career could have ended that summer amid a tense transfer standoff.After telling the club he would not extend, Mbapp was left off a preseason tour to Japan and South Korea and forced to train with fringe players. PSG said it would rather sell him than let the player leave for free in 2024, but he rejected a 300 million euro move to Saudi Arabia team Al-Hilal.PSG left Mbapp out of the opening league game of that season but he soon returned to the lineup following talks.Mbapp's legal team said in April it would start an action against PSG for harassment because of the way he was treated at the time.- EndsMust Watch
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Spain''s women battled sexism and indifference. Now the world champions are eyeing European title
If the women's soccer players of Spain have gone from nobodies to title contenders in less than a decade, it hasn't come easy. The national team has had to fight for better coaching, decent travel conditions, and modern training facilities. Explore courses from Top Institutes in Please select course: Select a Course Category healthcare CXO Artificial Intelligence Data Science Healthcare MCA Digital Marketing Operations Management Design Thinking Management Public Policy others Data Analytics Degree Cybersecurity MBA Product Management Project Management Others Leadership Data Science PGDM Finance Technology Skills you'll gain: Duration: 11 Months IIM Lucknow CERT-IIML Healthcare Management India Starts on undefined Get Details It paid off with a World Cup title in 2023, the Nations League crown last year, and on Sunday they face England in the European Championship final . by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Top 15 Most Beautiful Women in the World Undo "It has been a constant with the national team that we have had to fight for acceptable work conditions that would allow us to play at our best," former Spain defender Marta Torrejon told The Associated Press by phone on Friday. Torrejon lived through the lean years, the time when playing for her country felt like, in her words, a "waste of time." Live Events And she knows from talking with Barcelona teammates who still play for their country how much things have improved. Torrejon retired from international soccer after the 2019 World Cup as Spain's then most-capped player with 90 appearances. She has since helped Barcelona win three Champions League titles and a slew of other trophies. She also played a part in one of the revolts Spain's women have staged to demand more from the men who run the game. After the 2015 World Cup, Torrejon and other players successfully pushed for the removal of coach Ignacio Quereda, who had run the team for nearly three decades, for his poor preparation ahead of the team's first appearance in the competition. Quereda was later accused by former players of verbal abuse, an allegation he denied. "I enjoyed playing for the national team, but the preparation and attention to the player was minimum. It felt, to put it bluntly, like a waste of time," Torrejon said. "The level of practice and the level of physical training both plummeted compared to what we had (at Barcelona). It was like taking a step back. "I am told that isn't the case now, and I am very glad to hear that." Torrejon said she saw steps in the right direction under former Spain coach Jorge Vilda, who replaced Quereda, but felt there was still more untapped potential in the team when she retired. After Torrejon quit the team, some players announced in 2022 they would no longer play for Vilda unless he ran a more professional operation. He was backed by the federation. Some players returned to play for him, and the team made history by winning the 2023 World Cup. 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Barcelona and other clubs have lifted SpainSpain midfielder Patri Guijarro agrees with Torrejon that the sustained investment Barcelona has provided for the past decade in the women's game has boosted the national team. "Each and every day we work well in our clubs and I think that is reflected in the achievements of the clubs but also in the national team," Guijarro said at Spain's camp in Lausanne, Switzerland, on Friday. Guijarro also credits the professionalization of Spain's women's league in 2021, which allowed players "to dedicate ourselves fully to soccer." Guijarro is one of 11 Barcelona players on Spain's 23-member squad. The Barcelona contingent includes Bonmati and Putellas, who have split the last four Ballon d'Or awards between them. Former Barcelona official Xavier Vilajoana oversaw the women's team and the club's training academy from 2015-2020. During that time, the club dramatically increased its funding for women's soccer and built a training program for girls. Vilajoana said one critical decision was having the same coaches train the boys' and girls' teams. That way the Barcelona style was instilled in all the kids, and that ball-possession, short-passing and pressure became fundamentals of the women's teams as well. "Let's not fool ourselves, we spent many years in a very sexist society and that was reflected in women's soccer. So clearly the change in the mentality of society has helped," Vilajoana told the AP. "But I also believe the style of play Barca has helped see women players in the same way (as the men)." We had talent'In the background, Spain's strong feminist movement helped get the public behind the players. "There were many of us players who gave it our all for the national team but weren't able to get this far," Torrejon said. "The one thing we knew is that we had talent. We just needed more support."
