Paris (AFP)

The TV rights of French football will be put back on the market but the legal vagueness persists: the Professional League (LFP) on Thursday approved the principle of a call for tenders on vacant Ligue 1 matches but Canal +, tipped to resume them , requires a comprehensive procedure.

Meeting in the afternoon, the board of directors of the LFP unanimously validated the principle of a call for tenders concerning the batches of matches abandoned by Mediapro, broadcaster of 80% of Ligue 1 and Ligue 2, two sources with knowledge of the case told AFP.

These prizes, which include in particular the prestigious Sunday evening matches, including the ten most beautiful posters of the Ligue 1 season, were awarded for a record amount in 2018 to the Sino-Spanish group, for more than 800 million euros per year.

But Mediapro was unable to honor its payments this fall, before signing an agreement in December for its withdrawal.

Historic broadcaster of Ligue 1, Canal + has been expected for several months to resume these matches, but the encrypted channel does not seem ready to give the LFP a gift: it has already requested the organization of a global call for tenders, by including the matches it currently broadcasts and which it wishes to reproduce, i.e. 20% of Ligue 1.

- An accelerated procedure?

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The boss of Canal +, Maxime Saada, in fact announced Tuesday, in an interview with Le Figaro, that the encrypted channel intended to return batch number 3 that it broadcasts for an amount of 330 million euros per year.

But the League has a different legal interpretation on this matter, considering that it can only put the matches abandoned by Mediapro into competition.

The file is all the more complex as Canal + only broadcasts Ligue 1 via a sub-license agreement signed with the beIN Sports channel, and is therefore not directly under contract with the LFP.

However, beIN Sports did not let anything filter on its intentions.

Sources familiar with the case questioned by AFP did not indicate a precise timetable for this future call for tenders, one of them nevertheless advancing the hypothesis of an accelerated procedure, with a call for tenders. offers lasting only ten days, compared to 6 to 8 weeks usually.

Time is running out for the clubs, recipients of this televisual windfall essential to their survival.

Indeed, the withdrawal agreement signed by the LFP and Mediapro provides that Téléfoot, the channel of the Sino-Spanish group, must continue broadcasting its meetings until January 31 at the latest.

As for the matches broadcast by Canal +, their payments were settled until February 5, giving rise to fear of a suspension of payments on that date if Canal + goes to the end of its analysis.

- Financial emergency -

The clubs, already deprived of ticketing revenue by the health crisis, would then face even more drastic losses: the 330 million euros per year promised by Canal + until 2024 are indeed their main source of income currently.

They have also already, in parallel, kicked off negotiations to lower players 'salaries, with the support of the footballers' union, the UNFP.

According to several sources familiar with the matter questioned in recent weeks, the League initially favored over-the-counter negotiations with Canal on vacant lots: this amicable option had the advantage on the one hand of securing the 330 million annually already paid by Canal +, and on the other hand to act very quickly in the face of an emergency.

But Maxime Saada evacuated this hypothesis on Tuesday, deeming it legally questionable.

The call for tenders option involves risks: for Canal +, that of leaving empty-handed, even if no other broadcaster has publicly expressed its interest.

For the League, that of an even greater drop than expected in TV rights, due to the reluctance of the market.

"We must find with Canal and with all those who love French football solutions so that TV rights return to their intrinsic value," Jean-Michel Aulas, president of Lyon, insisted on France Info on Wednesday.

© 2021 AFP