FOOTBALL – Vincent Labrune’s stranglehold on French football is confirmed. The outgoing president of the Professional Football League (LFP) and ultra-favorite candidate for his re-election this Tuesday, September 10, has finally won his bet by obtaining a new mandate as president of the LFP. Despite a series of controversies that were not enough to make him come down from his throne.
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Following the vote by the board of directors of the body, Vincent Labrune was confirmed in his post with 14 votes out of 17 against Cyril Linette, his last-minute opponent and former head of the sports department of Canal+, the newspaper L’Équipe and the PMU.
A re-election obtained without much difficulty, but in a climate that was most deleterious for Vincent Labrune, between the fiasco surrounding the renegotiation of Ligue 1 TV rights, the more than growing threat of illegal streaming and the failed promise of obtaining a billion euros per season for the French championship. However, he has four additional years to reform, pacify and relaunch French football, with the support of the LFP board of directors. A small feat given the circumstances.
“Sham election”
It is indeed the end of a long saga for French football, concluded by a more than expected status quo. It must be said that the influence of Vincent Labrune, as well as the support of several major players in French football, were enough to ensure his re-election. However, the man who was supposed to be confirmed in his position without the slightest competition has had a complicated last few weeks.
The fault lies with the resigning Minister of Sports, Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, who had asked the Union of Football Actors to review its position and grant Cyril Linette its essential sponsorship so that he could also run for the presidency of the LFP, thus offering a minimum of competition to the former president of OM, aged 53.
Cyril Linette had thus launched a crusade against Vincent Labrune and his management of affairs. An attempt doomed to failure for many, notably for the president of RC Lens Joseph Oughourlian. Like many actors and observers, he anticipated an easy re-election of Vincent Labrune, supported by several influential club presidents, such as Laurent Nicollin, head of the Foot Unis union and president of Montpellier, or Jean Pierre Caillot, president of the Ligue 1 college and Stade Rémois.
After failing this Tuesday, Cyril Linette acknowledged, “stunned”, his defeat “without appeal”, more “continues to think that French football needs a manager profile ” at its head. For his part, Vincent Labrune can savor this election, after having created a surprise in 2020 against Michel Denisot.
Captain in the middle of a storm
A previous election that had given rise to a mandate marked by the desire to resolve the thorny issue of the allocation of TV rights for French football in a tense context with Canal+, the historic broadcaster. Barely propelled to the head of the body, the Orléanais had quickly come up against a major economic catastrophe: the failure and industrial crash of the previous broadcaster, the Sino-Spanish group Mediapro.
A situation saved in extremis by designating Amazon Prime as the new broadcaster and by concluding a very controversial agreement with CVC, a Luxembourg investment fund, which brought 1.5 billion euros to French football. Money then welcome for the finances of French football, which had yet to recover from the consequences of Covid-19.
Subsequently, Vincent Labrune had claimed that he could value the TV rights of French football at one billion euros per season, throwing himself body and soul into the quest for this crazy sum, in vain. Vincent Labrune was nevertheless supported by the club presidents in this bet, seduced by new revenues that were unthinkable until then. A bet that ultimately failed, which was concluded at the beginning of August by a last-minute agreement with DAZN and the Qatari group beIN Sports. All for the sum of 500 million euros per year… Very far from the billion expected and promised to French football.
However, the troubles are not over for Vincent Labrune after this victory. Because this new mandate already promises several soap operas, starting with that of the overhaul of the criticized governance of the LFP. Not to mention the fight against piracy and an announced showdown with the Senate inquiry committee on the financialization of football, which has also planned to go to the League headquarters in the coming days.
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