PARIS: French President Emmanuel Macron said on Friday he remained hopeful national team captain Kylian Mbappe would be able to play for his country at the upcoming Paris Olympics.

“I hope he will be able to play at the Olympic Games,” Macron said when asked by pupils during a visit to a school in the French capital.

Mbappe has previously made clear his desire to represent France at the Games, but that possibility dissipated when Real Madrid recently warned they would not release any of their players to take part in the Olympics.

The 25-year-old World Cup-winning forward is currently at Paris St-Germain but has told the Ligue 1 side he intends to leave when his contract expires at the end of this season, with Real his expected next destination.

The Olympic football tournament — which is for Under-23 players with three overage players allowed per squad — does not fall during FIFA dates for international matches, which means clubs have no obligation to release their players for the competition.

Mbappe will lead France at Euro 2024 which runs from June 14 to July 14 in Germany.

The Olympic football competition begins on July 24 and runs to Aug 9, with France in a group alongside the United States, New Zealand and ano­ther side still to be determined.

Macron also stated that he would go to Germany for the semi-finals and final of Euro 2024 should Les Bleus get there.

“I will go if we are in the semi-finals or in the final,” he said, pointing out that the final in Berlin falls on France’s national day, July 14.

Published in Dawn, April 6th, 2024