Those responsible are the French press as well as the leaders of the League (LFP), but neither he nor Mediapro has nothing to do with it.
With a certain aplomb, Jaume Roures, the Catalan boss of Mediapro, delivered on Radio Marca this Wednesday his very personal version of the conflict which pitted his company against the LFP in the crisis of TV rights in Ligue 1.
"The times (
Editor's note: information
) in France, like that (of the newspaper) L'Equipe, bothered me because it was a false interpretation of the situation," he said.
We asked the French league to renegotiate the contract (
Editor's note: TV rights to Ligue 1
).
But we kept paying.
There, instead of sitting down to negotiate, things went wrong… ”Rather cheeky statements from Roures whose group, claiming the health situation linked to the Covid epidemic, unilaterally denounced its contract as a broadcaster of 80% of Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 matches against 814 million euros annually for the period 2020-2024.
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The Sino-Spanish group was such a good payer that it did not honor either of the two deadlines of November and December, leaving a hole of 334 million euros in the finances of French football.
After that, he placed himself under the protection of the Commercial Court of Nanterre in November.
Broadcast of Ligue 1 on Mediapro until January 31
At the beginning of December, the judicial conciliation concluded that Mediapro was authorized to regain his freedom after having returned his rights to the LFP and having paid him 100 million euros.
Obviously, Roures, who has so far only paid 64 out of the 100 million owed, considers that he has also recovered his freedom of speech on the subject.
The LFP launched a call for tenders on Tuesday evening for audiovisual rights to Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 for the rest of the season, i.e. the period from February 5 to the end of the championship.
Contractually, Mediapro is required to broadcast Ligue 1 matches until January 31, 2021 at its expense.
Beyond this date, nothing is planned.
If the League has not found a broadcaster by early February - the OM-PSG clasico is scheduled for February 7 - it could therefore turn to Mediapro.
PODCAST. TV rights of French football: story of the Mediapro fiasco
