Nasser Al-Khelaïfi's “conflict of interest” at the heart of the senatorial mission's report on the financialization of Football

This is one of the notable chapters of the report of the senatorial mission on the intervention of investment funds in French Football, made public on Wednesday October 30. This denounces “unsatisfactory management of conflicts of interest” et “the deleterious effects [de ceux-ci] in the management of the Professional Football League ».

To combat this phenomenon, the rapporteur, Michel Savin (Les Républicains, Isère), suggests imposing “an obligation to declare conflicts of interest and an obligation to defer to decisions involving such conflicts” to administrators of professional sports leagues. Above all, he recommends“introduce an incompatibility between the function of member of the board of directors of a professional league or its commercial company and the holding of interests or the exercise of functions within an audiovisual broadcasting company”.

This recommendation should not go unnoticed because it directly targets Nasser Al-Khelaïfi, who “participated in the allocation of rights” Ligue 1 TV. A manager with multiple hats, the Qatari is both president of Paris Saint-Germain, of BeIN Media Group, whose French subsidiary holds broadcasting rights for Ligue 1 (one match per day) and of Ligue 2 (all matches), an influential member of the board of directors of the Professional Football League (LFP) and patron of the European Club Association. At the end of its hearings, often behind closed doors, the senatorial mission considers that “the presence of the president of PSG (…) is a problem in the exercise by [la filiale commerciale] LFP Media of its activity and for the transparency and efficiency of the LFP decision-making process”.

The senators thus find “surprising to say the least” the presence of “NAK” during the board of directors which decided, on July 14, to enter into exclusive negotiations with DAZN and BeIN Sports France. “The role [qu’il a] played raises questions in the context of the acceptance of an offer from BeIN Sports, hardly compatible with that of DAZN, the management of the resulting conflict with BeIN, the non-payment of matches by this broadcaster or even the modification of the Ligue 2 timetable, which is no longer the one provided for in the call for tenders »writes Mr. Savin, who emphasizes that “Nasser Al-Khelaïfi did not respond to the request for a hearing sent to him”. Contacted by The WorldMr. Al-Khelaïfi's entourage did not wish to react officially, but assures that the leader will respect the changes put in place, while being surprised that the Senate focuses more on the Qatari leader than on the state of French football.

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