Paris (AFP)
The new boss of the Professional Football League (LFP) Vincent Labrune said he was "worried" in an interview with L'Equipe on Friday, after French football broadcaster Mediapro failed to honor a TV rights deadline and demanded to renegotiate his contract.
"I am surprised about the form and worried about the substance," said Vincent Labrune to the sports daily, in his first interview since his election on September 10 as president of the League.
The Sino-Spanish group Mediapro, holder of most of the rights to Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 for the period 2020-2024, did not honor on October 5 a deadline of an amount estimated by L'Equipe at 172 million euros.
His boss Jaume Roures said in the process that he wanted to renegotiate the amount of the contract, of more than 800 million EUR per year, which allows him to broadcast most of the matches on his channel, Téléfoot.
"On the form, the timing of this announcement is surprising to say the least, when we know that it comes only a few weeks after the payment of a first installment which was announced with a lot of communication to + credibility + the Téléfoot project and its durability ... At the very least, we will say that this taints the relationship of trust! ", tackle in return Vincent Labrune in L'Equipe.
"And basically, this raises questions about the overall Mediapro project in France and the capacity of this group to meet its contractual and financial obligations vis-à-vis the LFP and French football", adds the former president of the Olympique de Marseille.
The League announced Thursday that it had refused Mediapro a delay in paying the due date in October.
"Mediapro is 53% owned by a solid Chinese shareholder (Orient Hontai Capital, editor's note), who should theoretically be able to meet their payment obligations ... The shareholders could not ignore the financing needs of the business plan of Mediapro ", judge Vincent Labrune, paving the way for the Chinese investment fund to play its role of surety.
"We are working hard, with the LFP teams, to be in a position to pay the amounts budgeted by our clubs on the due date", he promises, the finances of French clubs being already weakened by a market for not-for-profit transfers and ticketing revenues dried up by the health measures against the pandemic.
© 2020 AFP