PSG complains to French soccer federation over Dembélé and Doué injuries with France

PARIS (AP) — Paris Saint-Germain has written to the French soccer federation demanding a better working relationship between club and country, after its star players Désiré Doué and Ousmane Dembélé were injured on international duty.

Both were injured during Friday's World Cup qualifying match against Ukraine on Friday.

Dembélé, who is a strong candidate to win the men's Ballon d'Or after inspiring PSG to a first Champion League title, will be sidelined for up to six weeks with a hamstring injury. Doué is out for around four weeks with a calf strain.

“Paris Saint-Germain has sent a letter to the French Football Federation urgently calling for a new, more transparent and collaborative medical coordination protocol between clubs and the national team,” PSG wrote in a statement. “To make players’ health and medical support a top priority.”

PSG added that the French national team was provided with medical information concerning workloads and the injury risk to its players, and that France coach Didier Deschamps and his staff seemingly overlooked the advice.

“The club deplores the fact that these medical recommendations were not taken into account by the French national team's medical staff, as well as the total lack of consultation with its medical teams,” PSG wrote. “The recent events, serious and preventable, must give rise to swift and immediate corrective measures.”

PSG begins its Champions League defense against Atalanta on Sept. 17 and goes to Barcelona on Oct. 1, with both key players set to miss those matches.

Deschamps said he sympathised and understood PSG's frustration but insists that he took no undue risks.

“We have always done things seriously and professionally,” Deschamps said Sunday on television show “Téléfoot.” “If you leave players on the bench, you’re not taking any risks. As long as there are players on the pitch, there’s no such thing as zero risk.”

Deschamps insists that both players were fully consulted before being allowed to take part in Friday's game.

“The protocol stipulates that they must come and register their injury on Monday morning. We observe and we see how things progress,” Deschamps said. "In the week leading up to this, we took this seriously by asking how the player felt before each (training) session.”

However, it could be that the responsibility lies elsewhere.

At the end of June, France’s union of professional soccer players launched a scathing attack on the Club World Cup, saying it is “urgent to stop this massacre” amid ongoing concerns about extreme player workloads.

Days before the start of the month-long Club World Cup, soccer chiefs faced renewed calls to safeguard players over growing fears of injuries and burnout. The UNFP also accused FIFA president Gianni Infantino of living “in an Ivory Tower” by ignoring the impact congested calendars have on players.

PSG began its Ligue 1 campaign on Aug. 16 last year and effectively finished its season on July 13 with the Club World Cup final against Chelsea, with Doué and Dembélé both starting that match.

Just one month later, PSG played in the UEFA Super Cup against Europa League winner Tottenham, with some PSG players having had barely three weeks of rest, and then began its Ligue 1 title defense on Aug. 16.

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

France player Ousmane Dembele, center, and other players on the bench during the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying soccer match between Ukraine and France at Tarczynski Arena in Wroclaw, Poland, Friday, Sept. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

France's head coach Didier Deschamps waits for the start of the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying soccer match between Ukraine and France at Tarczynski Arena in Wroclaw, Poland, Friday, Sept. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

France's Desire Doue, left, challenges for the ball with Ukraine's Oleksandr Zinchenko during the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying soccer match between Ukraine and France at Tarczynski Arena in Wroclaw, Poland, Friday, Sept. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Two people were killed after a Russian drone attacked a minibus in the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson, local officials said Saturday, in the latest barrage of civilian areas, a hallmark of Moscow’s full-scale invasion of its neighbor.

Seven people were also wounded in the attack, regional head Oleksandr Prokudin said. Hours later Russia attacked another minibus in Kherson, wounding the driver, he said.

Meanwhile, along the northern border with Belarus, Ukraine recorded “rather unusual” activity on Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a post on Telegram on Saturday. Without elaborating, he said activity was seen on the Belarusian side of the border and that Ukraine would act if matters escalated.

“We are closely documenting and keeping the situation under control. If necessary, we will react,” he said.

Belarus, a close ally of the Kremlin, has allowed Russia to use its territory as a staging ground to send troops into Ukraine and to host some of Moscow’s tactical nuclear weapons.

On Ukraine's Black Sea coast, a Russian strike damaged port infrastructure in the city of Odesa. No casualties were reported.

Ukrainian civilians have endured relentless air assaults since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of its neighbor more than four years ago. U.S.-brokered talks between Moscow and Kyiv over the past year have brought no respite, with Russia rejecting Ukraine’s offer of a ceasefire, and in recent weeks the Iran war has diverted international attention from Ukraine’s plight.

Meanwhile, on the roughly 1,250-kilometer (750-mile) front line, Russia claimed Saturday it had taken control of the village of Myropillia in Ukraine’s northeastern Sumy region.

It was not possible to independently verify the battlefield claims, and Ukraine did not immediately comment.

In Russia, local officials in the Krasnodar region said that a fire that broke out Friday following a Ukrainian strike on an oil terminal in the Black Sea city of Tuapse was put out on Saturday.

Ukrainian drones have hit the oil refinery and export terminal in Tuapse on four occasions in just over two weeks, sparking fires that prompted local evacuations and sent up massive plumes of smoke.

Ukraine has escalated its long-distance strikes against Russian oil facilities in an effort to slash Moscow’s oil exports, a key source of funding for its grinding invasion of Ukraine. But the economic impact is so far unclear, as the rise in oil prices from the Iran war, and a related easing of U.S. sanctions, have helped replenish the Kremlin’s coffers.

Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

FILE - In this image taken from video released by Gov. Veniamin Kondratyev's Telegram channel, smoke rises after a drone attack on the oil refinery and terminal in Tuapse, Russia, Wednesday, April 29, 2026. (Gov. Veniamin Kondratyev Telegram channel via AP, File)

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, firefighters put out a fire a building following a Russian drone attack in Odesa region, Ukraine, Saturday, May 2, 2026. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, firefighters put out a fire a building following a Russian drone attack in Odesa region, Ukraine, Saturday, May 2, 2026. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)