Presented by Philippe Diallo a year ago, the French football reform project, which notably provides for the disappearance of the LFP in favor of a “club society” modeled on the model of the Premier League and attached to the Federation, must see significant progress in the coming hours. The examination of the legislative text before the National Assembly is scheduled for Monday, but it continues to cause debate and tear the clubs apart. On one side there are its supporters, namely Lens, OM, Rennes, Lyon, Le Havre and even Paris FC.
The opposition is represented by Paris Saint-Germain, Lille, Monaco and Nice. According to The Teamthe refractory are today trying to rally several clubs to their cause, and they are, as such, 22 presidents of L1 and L2 to sign a platform this morning in the Figaro. They maintain their intention to reform French football, but not in the conditions currently presented, contrary to what was initially envisaged according to them. A few weeks ago, Olivier Létang notably described the text as “bad”.
The 22 presidents request a postponement of the text
“We want to say it clearly: professional clubs have always been in favor of reform. But the reform proposed to us today does not meet this objective. As it stands, it cannot be supported. »we read in this column signed, among others, by Nasser Al-Khelaïfi, Olivier Létang, Loïc Féry, Jean-Claude Blanc and even Marc Keller. Angers, Brest, Le Mans, Nice, Monaco, Toulouse, Troyes, Nantes, Montpellier, Reims, to name only these clubs, also appear among the co-signatories. Concretely, the authors of this column regret that the project proposed today significantly moves away from the Premier League model, where the clubs manage their economic and commercial strategy, and in which “the federation fully exercises its regulatory role”.
“The text submitted today takes a very different direction. It does not simplify: it adds constraints, multiplies the decision levels and weakens a model that needs clarity. Concretely, with this text, essential decisions, on economic strategy or the organization of competitions, could be taken by actors who assume neither the direct financing nor the risk”we can read. The co-signatory clubs, for example, point out the obligation to broadcast a match unencrypted, which would mechanically reduce the value of TV rights. The lack of concrete responses to piracy, which has directly undermined club revenues for many years, is also mentioned. In this sense, the 22 presidents are asking for the postponement of this text, not in line with their expectations. To be continued.
