Thierry Henry unveiled on Monday the preselection list of 25 players from the French football team selected for the preparation course for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. The names of Kylian Mbappé and Antoine Griezmann do not appear on it.
Published on: 06/03/2024 – 12:19 Modified on: 06/03/2024 – 12:30
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Striker Kylian Mbappé does not appear in the preselection of 25 players from the French team selected for the preparation course for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games unveiled Monday June 3 by coach Thierry Henry.
Antoine Griezmann should also not play the Olympic Games after Euro-2024 with the French team, his club Atlético de Madrid being “not too much for it”, but “it will be decided at the last moment” , said the vice-captain of the Blues on Thursday.
This does not yet mean that the 2018 world champions are definitively excluded from the Olympics, but their chances are dwindling as they have repeatedly demonstrated their desire to participate.
“I’m not drawing a line in hope, we don’t know what’s going to happen. But I have to present you with a fairly real list. The list is open to everyone,” he said at a press conference. Thierry Henry, at the headquarters of the French Football Federation (FFF).
The coach was questioned to know if he had had discussions with Real Madrid, the very likely future club of Kylian Mbappé. “The people I spoke with were very direct,” he said, without naming the Spanish club.
Clubs have the power to release their players or not
“This is the list of the moment, it can evolve until July 3,” he added in reference to the official date of submission of the list of 18 players and 4 reservists to Fifa. “It is the clubs which have the power to say yes or no.”
As the Olympic tournament is not on the Fifa calendar, clubs are not obliged to release their players.
Already selected to play Euro 2024 from June 14 to July 14 in Germany, Warren Zaire-Emery and Bradley Barcola appear on this list.
“We will have to have a good discussion because we are talking about the integrity of a player. I am well aware of the situation of Warren and Bradley. We give ourselves a chance to have the best possible team,” explained Thierry Henry .
The Olympic tournament pits selections of players aged under 23 against each other with the possibility of adding three players beyond this age limit. There are currently two (Alexandre Lacazette and Jean-Philippe Mateta) but Thierry Henry has warned that a third player over 23 should be added to the list soon.
The Blues will play three preparation matches against Paraguay, the Dominican Republic and Japan before starting the Olympic tournament on July 24, in Marseille, against the United States.
With Reuters
