Paris (AFP)

A Classic, and a curtain!

After OM-PSG on Sunday evening, the Téléfoot channel will be extinguished less than six months after its launch, leaving behind an editorial staff that wishes to remain "professional and dignified" despite the sadness and "the immense waste" caused by the failure by Mediapro.

Until the end, the sixty employees installed in its premises in Aubervilliers believed in it.

Would Téléfoot be able to survive despite the withdrawal of its Sino-Spanish parent company Mediapro, acted in December?

The French leaders of the group have done everything to, in recent weeks, trying to convince sometimes Canal +, sometimes the Professional Football League (LFP), to take over the operation and management of the channel, built from scratch in a few months.

But the ax fell, brutally, Thursday evening, with the Canal + / LFP agreement for the reallocation of TV rights at the end of the season.

The "Clasico" of February 7 will be the last of 382 Championship matches broadcast by the channel since the end of August, L1 and L2 included ... to which must be added more than 250 European matches and the Champions Trophy.

- "Our mission was not in vain" -

“There was a little bit of hope even though the last few weeks were tough to go through. The first feeling is sadness, and also a feeling of immense waste. We worked like mad to deliver the baby. He looked great anyway. He was not far from walking ... And finally, for reasons that are beyond us completely, we send the chessboard on which we were waltzed ", sums up, fatalist, Thibault Le Rol, l one of Téléfoot's star presenters.

At the time of presenting his last multiplex, Sunday at 3:00 p.m., the host, formerly of beIN Sports, will undoubtedly have his voice moved and his heart heavy.

An emotion known by journalist Marina Lorenzo, at the helm on Friday of her last mid-day show telling the daily life of the clubs.

"I think our mission was not in vain," said the host between tears, surrounded by her team.

"Without rancor", will add with a smile the former presenter of "J + 1" on Canal +, a few minutes after receiving the live tributes from the Lens player Florian Sotoca, tributes from the world of football which have multiplied from the start of the weekend.

Alongside his editorial staff in recent hours, the editorial director Jean-Michel Roussier has no doubts about the professionalism of his troops until the last minute, despite the sadness.

"There was hope, he died. The 16 matches we have left, we will have to get them out. But the work, they will do it until the end", he confided on Friday, stressing the "talent" of writing.

"By remaining dignified and pro until the end, we will emerge grown from this adventure. And that's how we will not betray what writing really is: professional, excellent, and healthy", insists Thibault The Rol.

- "Collective strength" -

If the professional future - dismissal?

starting plan?

- still remains unclear for the employees questioned, due to internal discussions still in progress, the pride of having participated in this adventure remains.

"The bet is unfortunately lost in some respects, but it is won in others because I do not regret anything. Having taken this risk, tried this adventure, been a member of such an editorial team, I absolutely do not regret it", continues Thibault Le Rol.

Of course, there is also bitterness, incomprehension in the face of the economic and media fiasco, in the face of the "powerful" who negotiated this sad epilogue, in Catalan offices or in those of the LFP.

"It makes you wonder if the editorial staff mattered to these people. Humanly, it is not obvious, it's a bit of a hangover," said another employee.

"And the worst part is that Canal + wants to create a channel when it already exists".

"It was sometimes pretty crazy to hear so much about Mediapro while at the same time, we at Téléfoot were trying to do our job as best as possible", confirms Thibault Le Rol.

"In this context which was becoming almost ubiquitous, the humanity of each took the upper hand and emerged from it elegance, dignity, professionalism. This collective strength, this abnegation, this emulation to succeed in bringing out this project, that, I will remember ".

© 2021 AFP