Footballers have competition. For the first Olympic Games in Paris in 100 years, Panini has decided to join the Olympic movement by unveiling on Tuesday an album 100% dedicated to French athletes who are preparing for the big summer event. Young and old will therefore be able to discover Léon Marchand, Estelle Mossely, Félix Lebrun or even Clarisse Agbégnénou, Florent Manaudou, Elodie Clouvel and Teddy Riner, through the famous labels to stick in the album. The sale was made official (4.95 euros, 469 stickers, including 81 special, 80 pages) on Tuesday with 441 portraits of Olympic and Paralympic athletes who may or may not participate in the Olympics this summer.
By making this album official at the beginning of April, Panini is also aware of not highlighting all the athletes who will take part in the Olympics, certain disciplines having not yet issued all the tickets for the competition. The brand’s management claims to have had to make choices, with printing constraints. Some athletes who will take part in the Games will not be in this album and others, present, will not take part in the big celebration this summer. “It was complex to put together,” explains Isabelle Fillon, marketing director of Panini France. We were forced to make choices, particularly because of our closing dates. »
Thus, Panini enthusiasts will not be able to find the label of Antoine Dupont, Victor Wembanyama or even Kylian Mbappé, whose presence, for the latter, is not yet assured. The reasons are diverse. For the captain of the French XV, who will be present at the rugby sevens, the album had already been sent into production when he made his decision to switch to the Olympics. For the new basketball star who plays in the NBA, it was a question of contract that posed a problem.
Ditto for the captain of the Blues football team, not sure of being there, but in any case blocked for legal reasons. Moreover, faced with the uncertainty of the players present in Thierry Henry’s list, Panini decided to write two pages on the French women’s team and nothing on the men. In its quest for something new, the brand has decided to diversify with an album Vendée Globe 2024 (November 10) which is scheduled for release next fall.