“Qatar is a friendly country of France, a loyal, strategic partner on which it knows it can count in difficult situations. » On February 27, under the chandeliers of the Elysée party hall, Emmanuel Macron multiplies the flatteries to celebrate his host, the Emir of Qatar, Tamim Ben Hamad Al Thani, on a state visit to Paris.
Besides the “investments of 10 billion euros” agreed by Qatar in France, the President of the Republic evokes, during the dinner, the ” tremendous ” Football World Cup organized in the emirate, in 2022. Among the guests, two men agree: the boss of the Professional Football League (LFP), Vincent Labrune, and the Qatari president of Paris-Saint-Germain and the group BeIN Media, Nasser Al-Khelaïfi.
Both are present, because the financial future of French football is also on the menu. Fully assuming his role as “VRP” in these highly political negotiations, Mr. Macron takes the opportunity to tell the Emir that he views the negotiations, which began in the fall of 2023 after the failure of a call for tenders open to all broadcasters, between the LFP and the Qatari channel BeIN Sports, as part of the acquisition of television rights to Ligue 1 for the 2024-2029 cycle, crucial in the economy professional clubs. Asked, the sports advisor of the Elysée, Cyril Mourin, did not respond to requests for details from the World.
“Nothing filters”
Almost three months after this sumptuous dinner, and while the French championship season ended on May 19, the discussions have not been successful, and we still do not know who will be the broadcaster of the next edition of Ligue 1 , which is scheduled to resume on August 16.
Negotiations with Qatar – described as ” firefighter “ by people close to the case – continue. They are carried out in the greatest secrecy with the CEO of BeIN Media, Yousef Al-Obaidly, by Mr. Labrune, whose mandate at the LFP is marked by the creation, in 2022, of a commercial company and the investment of 1.5 billion euros by the CVC Capital Partners fund (which has been the subject of a preliminary investigation by the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office since March).
“Nothing filters”, notes the president of a historic French football club, who wishes to remain anonymous. For him and for his colleagues, the issue is crucial: TV rights, monitored by the National Directorate of Management Control, the financial watchdog of French football, determine a large part of club budgets for the 2024-2025 season. “Labrune locks the com very well. Even at the board of directors of the League, we have no information”observes one of its members.
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