Paris (AFP)
The Professional Football League (LFP), in the midst of the Covid-19 and TV rights crisis, asked the government on Tuesday for an "emergency support plan", quantifying its overall audiovisual income for the season at 759.1 million d euros, instead of the 1.3 billion initially expected.
"The LFP requests an emergency meeting with the Ministry of the Economy, Finance and Recovery, and the Ministry of National Education, Youth and Sports to receive the leaders of the LFP and a delegation of clubs in order to build an emergency support plan, "the body wrote in a statement released after a Board meeting.
The LFP considers that "the measures already taken by the government for the current season (of the order of EUR 100 million excluding the loan guaranteed by the State for professional football) last November have unfortunately turned out to be insufficient or unsuitable for continue the activity of the sector ".
In recent days, several club leaders had already called on the State to help: some have mentioned a potential effort on the Buffet tax (5% on audiovisual rights), exemptions from charges, or even, in the longer term, an evolution of the Evin law (on alcohol in stadiums).
French professional football highlights in particular the sanitary closed door, almost generalized since March 2020, which deprives all clubs of ticketing and hospitality revenues.
The League in passing communicated the consolidated figures of its shortfall in terms of TV rights, after the failure of the broadcaster Mediapro and the reallocation of matches to Canal + until the end of the season, recorded on Thursday.
Thus, including international rights, which have not changed, the League forecasts TV revenues of EUR 759.1 million this season, against EUR 1.307 billion initially hoped for, with the record amounts offered by Mediapro.
Or a shortfall of 548 million euros.
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