Fayza Lamari, mother and agent of Real Madrid forward Kylian Mbappe, was questioned by investigating judges last Friday and placed under the formal status of “assisted witness,” according to the French newspaper L’Equipe, whose latest edition was published on Wednesday. Her questioning marks a new phase in the judicial investigation into Mohamed Sanhadji, the former security officer of the French national team, and brings the process into the player’s family circle.
The procedural step matters for how the case develops. Under French legal procedure, assisted witness status means evidence and indications of possible involvement exist, but without the conclusive proof needed for a formal charge. It is understood as a preliminary stage before charges are filed. Judges believe Lamari asked Sanhadji to intervene to obtain four visas. Her lawyers, for their part, are saying nothing.
What started as a routine corruption file has expanded considerably in scope. Sanhadji, who handled security for the French national team between 2004 and 2016, now faces accusations of corruption, embezzlement and influence peddling. Investigators are working to establish the extent of his criminal activities, and the net stretches across numerous current and former national team players, officials of the French Federation, and even some players’ agents. Lamari’s questioning forms part of that wider series of interviews being conducted by the judicial team.
Mbappe himself has not been spared. L’Equipe confirmed that the player was also questioned during his time in Paris at the end of last month, after he left the French national team camp ahead of the UEFA Nations League matches due to injury. Further detail on the case, as reported by Goal.com, is available here: https://www.goal.com/en-za/news/one-step-before-indictment-mbappe-s-mother-investigated-in-a-major-corruption-case/blta47fadc6cbd07260
One of the most sensitive points in the file concerns money. In 2023, Mbappe made a financial donation to Sanhadji worth 60,300 euros, shortly before his famous trip to Cameroon. Sanhadji, the veteran personal bodyguard of the national team, travelled with him on that occasion. Judges now want to pin down the legal nature of the trip itself: was it an official mission or a personal visit? The answer could change the legal classification of the donation, and it is on this question that the classification work of the investigators currently turns.
Meanwhile, a further layer emerged as the investigation progressed. Zinedine Zidane, after his appointment as national team coach, asked for Sanhadji to take charge of his personal security. Sanhadji was later forced to resign from that role because of the precautionary measures imposed on him by investigators. Those measures prevent him from communicating with any current or former member of the national team, a restriction that effectively removed him from the position Zidane had requested him to fill.
The trajectory of the case shows how a file that started narrowly has widened through successive procedural steps. Investigators have moved from the original accusations against Sanhadji to a broad interview program covering players, federation officials and agents, and have now reached the family circle of the national team captain. Each step, from the questioning of Mbappe in Paris to the assisted witness status granted to Lamari, marks a stage in the judicial machinery as it tests whether the indications gathered so far can support formal charges.
For now, the file remains at the stage of investigation rather than prosecution. The key open questions are the ones the judges themselves have identified: the legal nature of the Cameroon trip, the classification of the 60,300 euro donation, and the scope of Sanhadji’s alleged activities. The answers will determine whether the preliminary steps now underway lead to charges, and how far the inquiry reaches into the structures of French football.