The deal concluded between the Professional Football League (LFP) and CVC in April 2022 to “save” French football is at the heart of the turmoil. Tuesday, searches took place while the (LFP), its president Vincent Labrune and the investment fund are in the sights of the national financial prosecutor's office (PNF), on suspicion of embezzlement of public funds in particular.
Juicy bonuses
Our colleagues from the Team, who revealed the information, assure that the PNF is particularly interested in an envelope which would have been used to pay the intermediaries in the conclusion of this agreement “once the deal is finalized” and to offer juicy bonuses to the leaders of the League.
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In detail, the investment banks Lazard Frères and Centerview Partners France each received 12 million euros. The Darrois Villey Maillot Brochier law firm received 5 million euros. The rest (8.5 million euros) would have gone into the pockets of the League leaders who participated in the negotiation of the contract. Which represents a total of 37.5 million euros. That is more than the 33 million euros received by 13 Ligue 1 clubs in 2022 (Strasbourg, Lens, Nantes, Brest, Reims, Montpellier, Angers, Troyes, Lorient, Clermont, Saint-Etienne, Metz and Bordeaux).
As a reminder, the agreement with CVC (1.5 billion euros for French football, in exchange for 13.04% of its lifetime income for the investment fund) was supposed to get French professional clubs out of the rut bloodless after the Covid-19 epidemic and the economic failure of Mediapro in France.
France
