PARIS (AP) — Paris Saint-Germain forward Ousmane Dembélé won Ligue 1's player of the season award for the second straight year, despite injuries limiting him to nine league starts.
Dembélé received the award late Monday night as a PSG player claimed it for the 10th straight time. Kylian Mbappé won five in a row before joining Real Madrid.
Alexandre Lacazette was the last non-PSG player to win it when playing for Lyon in 2015. The prize was not awarded during the pandemic-shortened 2019-20 campaign.
Dembélé was selected ahead of two PSG teammates: left back Nuno Mendes and tireless central midfielder Vitinha — who spent more than twice as long as Dembélé on the field. Lens winger Florian Thauvin and Marseille forward Mason Greenwood were the other two candidates.
Dembélé starred in PSG's league title win last season with 21 goals — level with Greenwood — and went on to win the Ballon d'Or, but made less of an impact this time mainly because of nagging injuries in the first half of the season.
But he still managed 10 goals and five assists in 20 league appearances overall as coach Luis Enrique used him and captain Marquinhos more sparingly in Ligue 1. Dembélé played 959 minutes in total compared to 2,369 for Thauvin, who finished with the same number of goals, assists and penalties (two) and 2,008 for Vitinha.
His performances have arguably been more impactful in the Champions League. PSG is aiming for a second straight title after beating Bayern Munich in the semifinals, with Dembélé’s early goal in the return leg earning PSG a 1-1 draw and putting it through 6-5 on aggregate.
PSG plays Premier League leader Arsenal in the final on May 30.
PSG teammate Désiré Doué was voted the league's best young player for the second straight season. The 20-year-old forward's winning goal against Brest on Sunday put PSG on the verge of a record-extending 14th league title.
PSG is six points ahead of second-placed Lens with two games left and with a vastly superior goal difference. PSG only needs a draw at Lens on Wednesday in their rescheduled match to clinch the title.
Pierre Sage won the best coach award for turning Lens into a surprise title contender in his first season in charge and with far less resources than cash-rich PSG.
“Congratulations to Pierre Sage, he deserves to win this trophy because what he's done with Lens is incredible,” Luis Enrique said. “It's the first time in my three seasons here that there's been a genuine rival. It's has been motivating.”
Robin Risser won the best goalkeeper award for Lens.
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
PSG's Desire Doue, left, celebrates scoring his side's opening goal during the French League One soccer match between Paris Saint Germain and Brest in Paris, France, Sunday, May 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)
PSG's Ousmane Dembele runs for the ball during the French League One soccer match between Paris Saint Germain and Brest in Paris, France, Sunday, May 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)
BANGUI, Central African Republic (AP) — A flight carrying at least two dozen migrants, including an Iranian woman facing persecution in her home country, landed in the Central African Republic on Friday. It is the latest example of the Trump administration’s widely criticized deals with African and Latin American nations to take third-country deportees.
The Central African Republic, a deeply impoverished country plagued by conflict, is one of at least nine African nations with this type of agreement.
Under a series of often-secret agreements that are part of a broad U.S. crackdown on immigration, the Trump administration has deported thousands of people to nearly two dozen countries that are not their own, advocates say.
The Trump administration uses deportations to third countries as a legal loophole to indirectly force asylum seekers back to their home countries, immigration lawyers said.
It was unclear exactly how many migrants were on the deportation flight that left Louisiana late Thursday on the way to the Central African Republic’s capital, Bangui.
Some of the migrants are temporarily staying at a firefighters’ base near the U.S. Embassy compound under construction in Bangui, while others will be housed at other locations, according to a source close to the embassy. The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not allowed to speak publicly on the matter, also said women and men were separated upon arrival.
Among those set to be deported Thursday were people from Iran, Jordan, Armenia, Turkey, Georgia and Afghanistan, according to Ali Rahnama, interim executive director of the Iranian American Legal Defense Fund, who has been in touch with some of the migrants.
Three Iranian women in the U.S. were originally scheduled to be sent to the Central African Republic, according to Sahar Jalili Pawelski, one of their immigration lawyers, who said two of them received emergency court orders temporarily stopping their deportation while judges reviewed whether the government was acting legally.
All had been granted court protection against deportation to Iran after judges ruled they faced credible fears of persecution on the basis of politics or religion, Rahnama said.
“Despite being granted withholding of removal, these individuals are being removed from the United States and abandoned in a country where they have no status, no connection and no support network. We fear they will ultimately be forced to return to the countries they originally fled,” Emily Trostle, an attorney representing two of the women, said Friday.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security on Thursday would not comment on the case, saying it would not confirm future removal operations for security reasons. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The Central African Republic has been plagued by years of conflict between pro-government forces and armed groups and is one of the poorest countries in the world. Despite vast reserves of gold, one in three people live on less than $2 a day.
It also is one of the countries where Wagner, a Russian mercenary group, was first active in Africa. The group has been responsible for President Faustin-Archange Touadéra’s security and fighting rebel groups.
The country remains one of Russia’s closest allies in Africa, despite recent tensions between Touadéra and Moscow over Russia’s push to replace Wagner with the state-controlled Africa Corps.
Rahnama of the Iranian American Legal Defense Fund expressed concerns about an Iranian asylum seeker being sent to the Central African Republic, noting Russia’s influence in the country and Moscow’s close security ties with Iran.
The International Organization for Migration, a U.N.-affiliated agency, will “provide post-arrival humanitarian assistance” to the migrants at the request of the Central African authorities, a spokesperson said.
The U.S. earlier this year awarded $85 million to the IOM for operations in the Central African Republic to provide “assistance to migrants” and promote “community stabilization.”
Banchereau reported from Dakar, Senegal. Associated Press writers Rebecca Santana in Washington and Akram Oubachir in Casablanca, Morocco contributed to this report.
FILE - An arial view of Bangui, Central African Republic, is seen on March. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Sam Mednick, File)
