The commercial court of Nanterre (Hauts-de-Seine) is studying this Tuesday the request of beIN Sports which wants to force Canal + to honor the payment of 332 million euros to the Football League for the two league matches on Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon. The Qatari television channel seized the court last week, in the context of an hour-to-hour summary. This is a legal procedure which allows a very rapid reaction to a situation of extreme emergency, in particular in the context of a disagreement between partners. This is the case, since neither of the two channels wishes to pay the famous lot 3, including these two matches, to the LFP.
As a reminder, beIN Sports acquired this lot, in 2018, during the call for tenders for 2020-2024 TV rights, before signing a sub-license contract, at cost price, with Canal +.
The encrypted channel therefore broadcast these two meetings throughout last season.
But after the attribution of the old rights of Mediapro (80% of the matches of L1 and L2) to Amazon on June 11, the French broadcaster announced that it was withdrawing from Ligue 1.
Read alsoAmazon, the withdrawal of Canal ... but what happens with the TV rights of French football?
The issue is therefore to know who, Canal + or beIN Sports, owner of lot 3, must pay the payment of 332 million euros to the League and broadcast the two matches.
Time is running out, as the L1 championship begins on the weekend of August 7 and 8.
In general, the hour-to-hour referral allows rapid judgments to be obtained.
By the end of the week, we should therefore know who will broadcast Ligue 1 with Amazon.
While waiting for the next judicial episode?
It's possible.
For its part, the Professional Football League is awaiting a formal commitment from beIN Sports to pay the first draft in August (around 55 million euros).
It reserves the right to take the Qatari broadcaster to court to force it to respect its contractual commitments.
