French football superstar Kylian Mbappé has secured a landmark legal victory against former club Paris Saint-Germain, with the Court of Arbitration ordering the Parisian club to pay €60 million in unpaid wages and bonuses. The most intriguing aspect of the ruling concerns €1.5 million designated as “ethics bonus” payments—a contractual element commonplace in French sports but largely unknown internationally.
The ethics bonus system emerged as a creative solution to French labor laws that prohibit salary deductions for disciplinary reasons. Unlike English clubs that can fine players up to two weeks’ wages for misconduct, French teams structure contracts with base salaries supplemented by behavioral incentives. These bonuses effectively constitute the remainder of the player’s total compensation, subject to compliance with club conduct standards.
Football finance expert Kieran Maguire explained: “Clubs are very keen to protect their image. They don’t want anybody going nuclear and criticizing the club, which means they implement good behavior clauses. We’ve seen similar structures with Tiger Woods and Lance Armstrong regarding sponsor morals clauses.”
Previous high-profile cases illustrate how these bonuses function in practice. In 2018, midfielder Marco Verratti had portions withheld after a drink-driving incident, while Hatem Ben Arfa lost his bonus for skipping PSG’s mid-season training camp in Qatar. Most recently, Lionel Messi faced sanctions for an unauthorized trip to Saudi Arabia.
The concept gained notoriety when details of Neymar’s PSG contract revealed he received €541,680 monthly for demonstrating “courtesy, friendliness and availability to supporters,” alongside requirements to greet fans before and after matches and maintain professional conduct with sponsors and officials.
Modern football contracts have evolved into complex financial instruments encompassing loyalty payments, image rights, performance bonuses, and Champions League participation incentives—often totaling 25-40% beyond base salaries. As Maguire noted: “The contract which used to be written on the back of a napkin is now an investment by a series of stakeholders.”