With 7 days to go until the vote, the saga of the election of the president of the LFP has not finished delivering twists and turns. On Monday, September 2, Christophe Bouchet took up his pen and sent a letter to Amélie Oudéa-Castéra. In this text made public on his X account, the former president of OM asks the resigning Minister of Sports to “immediately suspend this electoral process”.
The idea is to “put the LFP under the supervision of the FFF and to order the latter to quickly draw up statutes likely to favour truly independent candidacies”, writes the candidate to succeed Vincent Labrune.
Thus, Christophe Bouchet hopes to provoke “a debate that professional football cannot do without after several years of haphazard management (rejection of the Médiapro company, contract with the CVC fund, security inside and outside stadiums, timeshares, etc.)”.
“A pathetic spectacle”
“This election, already very little open, is turning into a masquerade, giving a pathetic spectacle of our sport every day,” complains the author of the book “Main basse sur l’argent du football français”.
Eager to transform Ligue 1, Christophe Bouchet did not, however, secure the sponsorships necessary to participate in the election. The outgoing president, as well as Cyril Linette, obtained them after an intervention by Amélie Oudéa-Castéra followed by a backpedaling by the UAF.
Christophe Bouchet is surprised: “The electoral process of the Professional Football League has once again gone off the rails following a curious bargaining: sponsorship (of the UAF) in order to be eligible against the commitment of one of the candidates to resign from the said board of directors if he does not accede to its presidency. In short, being forced to resign once elected, violating our elementary rules of democracy.”
Vincent Labrune still favourite in the election
At the same time, Christophe Bouchet notes that Gervais Martel “was forgotten in this exchange unworthy of our democratic regime”, even though he had received sponsorship from Foot Unis.
On the contrary, Karl Olive, Macronist MP for Yvelines, has received the necessary support while the elected official does not intend to run for the presidency of the League. He must clarify his situation in the coming days.
Finally, Christophe Bouchet notes that Foot Unis has modified “its own rules for awarding sponsorships” and this “at the very last moment”. Enough to further reinforce the vagueness surrounding these designations.
It remains to be seen whether the former OM president’s request to Amélie Oudéa-Castéra will be heard. For the time being, the electoral process is still on track and Vincent Labrune retains his status as favorite, despite a mandate undermined by upheavals and controversies.
- RMC Sport
