The deputies adopted on Monday June 29 a battery of measures to reform the governance of professional sport, ironing out financial or structural questions, and adopting in the process a shock ban on the multi-ownership of a French club and another abroad.
To respond to the “drifts” observed in recent years, particularly in football, the text adopted by 75 votes to 2 provides for certain important changes.
The federations could in particular withdraw from the leagues, after government approval, their “public service subdelegation”, in the event of a “serious failure” or “decision” generating “serious financing difficulties” for example. A measure which directly targets football, stuck for several years in a TV rights crisis, through successive conflicts with its broadcasters (Canal+, Mediapro, DAZN…).
Initiated in the Senate, the text would allow federations to create their own “commercial company” responsible for commercial issues in place of the current Leagues. During his submission a year ago, the boss of the Professional Football League (LFP), Vincent Labrune, was worried about a potential “right of life or death” on “all professional leagues”.
The government could however authoritatively extend in certain cases an agreement, “intermediate solution before the withdrawal of delegation”, according to Minister Marina Ferrari (Sports). A measure capped at two years by rapporteur Lionel Duparay (LR).
Zidane’s salary
Another ceiling established: on the salaries of federation leaders, at around 12,000 euros gross monthly. A measure of moderation extended in the hemicycle to “employees”, raising an unexpected question.
“How, with such a framework (…), recruit the best coach for the French Football Federation like Zinédine Zidane”, expected successor to Didier Deschamps, asked MP Karl Olive (Renaissance), himself a “volunteer” member of the LFP board of directors.
Under condition of anonymity, a source close to the matter expressed concern about a cap that was far removed from market prices for a coach of the Blues, but also for senior executives in different federations.
The deputies also validated the principle of control by the Court of Auditors over the federations and leagues, and maintained, against the advice of the government, extended power to the DNCG (National Directorate of Management Control), financial policeman of French clubs, to authorize or oppose the sale of a club.
And, in a reversal of the situation compared to the commission, they approved at the end of the game a shock measure: the outright ban on multi-ownership in the future of a French club and another abroad, as in the case of Strasbourg, owned by an American consortium BlueCo, also at the head of Chelsea in England.
The transpartisan measure will still be debated in the joint committee (CMP), where deputies and senators must agree on a common version. It would also be “non-retroactive”, specifies Eric Coquerel, LFI deputy in charge after discussions with Red Star supporters.
“However, it would be historic,” he insists, arguing that “there are almost no examples of clubs saved by multi-ownership which after a few years are doing well”.
Paris and piracy
The president of Paris FC, Pierre Ferracci, welcomed a text which “the majority of football players are delighted with”, according to him, while asking for the withdrawal of the measure on the regulation of multiple ownership “which can only be done at UEFA level, under penalty of imbalance” between European championships.
The work in the CMP must “enable us to arrive at a coherent and effective law, which will give our clubs the means to strengthen their competitiveness,” added Shéhérazade Semsar-de Boisséson, vice-president of the OM supervisory board.
The text arouses greater reluctance among leaders, some, like the presidents of PSG and LOSC, having even requested its “postponement” over the weekend. However, a few points were deleted in the chamber, such as the obligation to broadcast one match unencrypted per week, or the capping of a club’s payroll at 65% of its budget.
The text also includes certain measures to popularize women’s competitions, regulate sports betting among 18-25 year olds, and fight directly against piracy. Despite his ambition, the environmentalist deputy Jean-Claude Raux deplored that he planned “almost nothing” on the environment or sexist, sexual, racist and homophobic violence in the environment.
