Kylian Mbappe has angered some figures high up in Ligue 1 after the 23-year-old refused to take part in sponsorship commitments.
Reims president Jean-Pierre Caillot has insisted that Mbappe's snub should not start a precedent, as the Paris Saint-Germain striker opted against getting involved with one of the French Football Federation's partners because he does not want his image to be associated with certain brands.
The sponsors invited Mbappe to attend last Friday's World Cup draw in Qatar, but their offer was declined by the striker who felt he wasn't the right France player to act as a representative. Instead, Mbappe felt it would have been more appropriate for national team captain Hugo Lloris to be in attendance alongside manager Didier Deschamps.
The young forward's decision is rumoured to have not gone down well with the sponsors involved who understandably did not take kindly to being snubbed by one of the biggest names in the national side. Mbappe's representatives have been in regular communication with the French Football Federation over his image rights.
Caillot has not held back in his assessment of the situation and admitted he does not "condone" Mbappe's actions. "As an individual....he probably has ethical questions about some of them," he told L'Equipe. "Personally, I don't really have a positive opinion on that.
"When you arrive at a club, you know the rules. When you arrive in the France team, you also know the rules. I read in L'Equipe that he had signed the rules for internationals. Today that he has become a world star, he discovers he is embarrassed to go to certain operations, I do not condone it."
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Caillot was then pressed on whether other players could take heed from Mbappe's decision and follow suit, something he would regard as a shame. "It would be a pity," he replied. "The example always comes from the greatest. So you have to be careful. I am not a giver of lessons, but I do not want it to come to that."
Currently, all of the money from Mbappe's image rights go towards charitable foundations and the striker's camp feel the France national side are in partnership with some companies that do not reflect the kind of ethics the PSG star wants to project.
Mbappe's lawyer Delphine Verheyden explained how the sponsorship deals agreed by the FFF are not to the benefit of its players. She told L'Equipe: "The convention was written up in 2010 and the world of 2022 has nothing to do with that of the post-Knysna times [French team going on strike at South Africa World Cup].
"As well as the lack of benefits there can be for players, there's more importantly a massive risk that their image could be warped. It's important that players are in harmony with the advertising in which they take part. For their young audience, they act as role models."
