An investigation in Stockholm has been opened, though Mbappe's name has so far not been formally mentioned.
Canu-Bernard spoke to BMTV about the speculation on Wednesday.
Bubble around the player:
“The bubble is there to protect him from the risks inherent in his fame. We are talking about a 25-year-old, he may have extraordinary maturity and mental strength – and I have the greatest admiration for that – but can you imagine the media frenzy and the kind of outpouring that is totally damaging to his honour ?”
Kylian has nothing to reproach himself for:
“He says very clearly: 'I have nothing to reproach myself for'. He lives in a different way than we do, obviously. He has a cordon sanitaire around him, a kind of bubble. He is in a context where he is not allowed to take risks. He is very exposed, his close circle knows it and he knows it . As you can imagine, everything is prepared so that this kind of situation does not occur.”
Sanitary cordon around it:
“He has a cordon sanitaire around him, always there. Objectively, that rules out a lot of things. When he says: 'I have nothing to reproach myself for', I know that we have in our suitcase - if one day he has to give explanations to an investigation department - (things to) explain and attest to a certain number of things.”
The hotel where he stayed:
“So much the better. Since nothing happened – and if it really is about him, there were several in Stockholm – and since there are 10,000 cameras in a hotel, it is better. As we have seen in other recent stories of athletes abroad, thanks to the cameras and the hotel corridors, we can know exactly what happened or what did not happen.”
Mbappé will testify if necessary:
“At some point, if this media frenzy and these thinly veiled accusations continue and light is not shed quickly, it will undoubtedly be heard by the investigative services.”
The possible complaint for slander:
“That is why it has not yet been filed, because we do not yet know whether the complaint is against him, and I am not going to file something in a vacuum. If it is confirmed that this complaint was directed against him in one way or another - after all, he can also be considered a witness - then we are obviously preparing a complaint for slander, since he has nothing to reproach himself for.”
Mbappé's state of mind:
“He is very calm because he knows what he has not done. He is following this attack from a distance, although he is somewhat protected from it. It will certainly affect him. I repeat, he is 25 years old. An accusation like that - even if we do not know if it is directed at him - the media will not hesitate to say that it is directed at him. From then on, it is certainly difficult to live with it , even if it is not in his head. I hope that he manages to score as many goals as possible in the next match.”