Paris has drawn Real Madrid forward Kylian Mbappé and his family into a wider French judicial inquiry concerning Mohamed Sanhadji, the long-serving security official attached to the national team from 2004 to 2026. Mbappé has been questioned by investigators, while his mother, Fayza Lamari, has been placed under the French status of assisted witness as judges examine alleged corruption and influence-peddling around the former security figure.
The inquiry around Sanhadji
Sanhadji has been formally charged with corruption, misuse of funds and influence peddling. The investigation has extended well beyond one player or one episode, with current and former France internationals, French Football Federation officials and actors among those questioned.
The examining judges are seeking to establish whether certain services and payments connected to Sanhadji fell within his official duties or reflected improper private arrangements.
Mbappé and Lamari questioned
- Mbappé was questioned while in Paris late last month, after leaving the France squad injured during the Nations League gathering.
- His interview is, at this stage, part of the broader evidence-gathering process into Sanhadji’s alleged activities rather than a charge against the Real Madrid player.
- Investigators are examining a €60,300 payment made by Mbappé to Sanhadji in 2023, shortly before the forward travelled to Cameroon accompanied by the France team’s historic bodyguard.
- The judges are attempting to determine whether that Cameroon trip was an official assignment or a private journey.
- Last Friday, Lamari was interviewed by the investigating magistrates and designated an assisted witness, a procedural position below formal indictment but used where there are indications requiring further examination.
- The judges suspect that she may have asked Sanhadji to intervene in obtaining four visas. Her legal representatives have not commented on the case.
Separation from the France set-up
Sanhadji had been asked to serve as security officer for France after Zinedine Zidane took charge of the national side. He has since had to give up the role because preventive measures imposed by the investigating judges bar him from contact with present or former members of the France squad.
The case therefore reaches into the corridors of the national team as well as Mbappé’s personal circle, with the investigation continuing to test the boundary between security work for Les Bleus and private services provided to figures around the side.
