Already criticized, the Coupe de la Ligue took a new blow behind the head on Tuesday. No broadcaster has positioned itself to buy the TV rights of the competition from 2020 to 2024 following the call for tenders formulated by the LFP. The perfect time to end this competition?
And if it was the right time to bury once and for all the League Cup? Under the fire of critics for many years, this competition organized by the League of Professional Football (LFP) did not find a broadcaster during the last call for tender whose results were unveiled on Tuesday.
Competition a priori easiest to hang on Europe, the Coupe de la Ligue does not like more to many people. Already shunned by many clubs and coaches because of the busy schedule of French clubs, the LFP, mother of the least prestigious competitions in France and aware of the criticism surrounding it, had tried to restore interest in introducing new measures . First relocation to the venue of the final in the province in 2016, which was held until then at the Stade de France. Then the year after, removing the extra time at the end of regulation time to go directly to the penalty shootout. Well-received choices that have finally highlighted the desire of clubs to save themselves by playing less.
And yet, qualifying teams for the round of 16 will have to play a sixth game in December in just over three weeks. Not really ideal at this time of the season when organisms are particularly under stress. Never again entering the hearts of fans, the Coupe de la Ligue also lives in the shadow of his cousin, the Coupe de France, which enjoys a different prestige and allows crazy adventures of semi-professional clubs. pros or amateurs and continues to thrill each year.
The lack of broadcasters in the call for tenders formulated by the LFP shows beyond the disenchantment already expressed by the clubs, that of the television, which no longer believes in this competition finally without "soul" and which one only goals are financial for the league. So, why not rally most of the other championships by keeping only one National Cup and ending this competition that nobody wants?