Zone of very strong turbulence for professional football: after having to mark the end of the 2019-2020 season, the Ligue 1 clubs spread out their divisions on the final ranking. And since then, clubs that feel aggrieved will take legal action. This is the case for Olympique Lyonnais: its president Jean-Michel Aulas also hopes to resume the championship. But the clubs will all be gathered on Monday afternoon to vote for a loan guaranteed by the State, decisive for their future.
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Because just with the shortfall on TV rights, the loss amounts to around 250 million euros. It is more or less the amount that should be requested Monday afternoon during this new extraordinary general meeting. It is therefore a "PGA", which is a bank loan guaranteed by the State up to 90%, at zero or almost zero rate and repayable over a year or more if the situation requires it.
An ultra-liberal system to refound?
The vast majority of clubs should vote in favor of this solution. It must be said that apart from PSG and Lyon, they are very few able to be choosy now. Elite clubs depend largely, probably too much, on TV rights, which sometimes represent 50% of the budget. If we add to this the absence of the usual resources, such as ticketing or derivative products, we arrive at this economic bottleneck which pushes the ultra-liberal professional football system to call the State to the rescue.
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Faced with this call for help, the State responded. "We will do everything to ensure that no club dies," said Sports Minister Roxana Maracineanu, who hopes in exchange for a little more modesty in the future. Modesty, but also foresight: French football has never agreed to build a woolen stocking for difficult days. He no doubt bitterly regrets it today that the crisis is hitting hard.