Vincent Labrune weakened, Cyril Linette and Karl Olive on the lookout… The war for the presidency of the LFP is declared

The election of the president of the Professional Football League is to take place on September 10, even though many presidents are calling for its postponement. Contested, Vincent Labrune will seek a new mandate.

The Professional Football League (LFP) has planned everything. While a risk of invisibility hangs over Ligue 1 following an interminable call for tenders, it is launching a new saga: that of the election of its president. This is to be held on Tuesday, September 10, on the occasion of the body’s general meeting.

If Vincent Labrune was confidently moving towards his re-election until recently, this crucial election for the future of French football is looking more uncertain than expected. Weakened by the difficult allocation of Ligue 1 TV rights to DAZN – whose subscription prices scandalize football fans – the former president of Olympique de Marseille is not giving in to panic, even if the cast of opponents has been strengthened in recent days, with former journalist Cyril Linette, MP Karl Olive and another former OM boss, Christophe Bouchet.

Elected to general surprise in 2020 against Michel Denisot, Vincent Labrune had then benefited from the support of small clubs, before leading a policy favorable to the big European teams once elected. Four years later, the president of the LFP remains, for the moment, supported by his long-time friends. This confidence is undoubtedly due to his first coup: before the fiasco of the last call for tenders, for which he was aiming for 1 billion euros, the former president of OM was a hero for his management of the Mediapro file.

Shortly after his election, Vincent Labrune had indeed had to deal with the disengagement of the short-lived broadcaster, and the resulting crisis for French football. He then managed to resell the rights abandoned by Mediapro to Amazon, thus appearing as a savior. An important detail: he then refused to renegotiate the rest of the rights, held by Canal+, something that the encrypted channel, the historic broadcaster of Ligue 1, never digested.

“Labrune has had nothing but trouble to deal with since his election. The real gravedigger of French football is Canal+, not him. He’s trying to save face.”

A Ligue 1 president

to franceinfo: sport

As proof, three years later, Canal+ stayed away from the last call for tenders, to the great displeasure of several Ligue 1 club presidents. Because, without the encrypted channel in the balance, the billion euros hoped for by the LFP quickly turned into a mirage, while beIN Sports never took the hand extended by Vincent Labrune. After months of uncertain negotiations, the TV rights for Ligue 1 were thus sold for 500 million euros to DAZN (seven matches for 400 million euros) and beIN Sports (one match for 100 million euros).

An amount of which 13% goes directly to the CVC investment fund, after the injection of 1.5 billion euros into the LFP’s commercial company. An agreement then presented by Vincent Labrune as the one that “would save French football”which has since earned him a hearing by the Senate as part of a fact-finding mission, while the national financial prosecutor’s office has opened an investigation into this agreement. In particular, the commission of 3 million euros received by Vincent Labrune upon signing with CVC was at issue, which prompted the anti-corruption association AC!! to file a complaint in 2023.

Despite this past, the outgoing president remains the favorite to succeed him. However, voices are being raised to ask for the postponement of the vote (which can take place until December 31, according to the LFP statutes), even though it comes less than two weeks after the end of the transfer window, which monopolizes the attention of the leaders of French clubs. The latter are in a hurry after having waited a long time to know how much the TV rights would bring them. Moreover, they still do not know the exact distribution of this windfall.

In this delicate context, the families of French football, namely the French Football Federation (FFF), Foot unis (the professional clubs’ union) and the Union des acteurs du football (which brings together the professional associations and unions representing all the players in French football), must each sponsor an independent member of the CA, which also includes the presidents of the professional clubs. Traditionally, the president of the LFP comes from these independent seats. Already a representative of the Federation during the previous term, Renaissance MP Karl Olive will be one of these three candidates.

Also a former president of OM (from 2002 to 2004), Christophe Bouchet entered the race at the beginning of the week. But the one who could really worry Vincent Labrune is Cyril Linette. The 53-year-old former journalist made his candidacy official on Tuesday, August 20 in the columns of World. And his CV has what it takes to seduce a microcosm fractured by the latest soap operas around TV rights. Cyril Linette has, among other things, headed the sports editorial team at Canal+ (2008-2015), before becoming general director of The Team (2015-2018), then PMU (2018-2021).

A connoisseur of the field, he hammered home his ambition to bring down the price of TV subscriptions “between 15 and 20 euros” monthly, while reopening the door to Canal+, where he spent nineteen years. If the beneficiaries of the three sponsorships should not be known until the end of the week, the duel between Vincent Labrune and Cyril Linette should take place. A new soap opera after that of TV rights, which will occupy those who do not want to pay 40 euros per month to watch Ligue 1.