The two matches of the first day of Ligue 1 Troyes - PSG, this Saturday 9 p.m., and Metz-Lille, Sunday 5 p.m., will therefore be broadcast by Canal +.
Just like those already scheduled by the League the following Saturdays at 9 p.m. (PSG - Strasbourg, Saint-Etienne - Lille, Marseille - Saint-Etienne) and Sundays at 5 p.m. (Lens - Saint-Etienne, Rennes - Nantes and Lille - Montpellier).
This Thursday afternoon, the commercial court of Nanterre has indeed decided to force the encrypted channel to fulfill this obligation to broadcast batch n ° 3 which has been causing so many problems for several weeks.
The starting point of the legal imbroglio dates back to the decision of Canal +, in June, to no longer broadcast these two meetings and to renounce the sub-license negotiated with beIN Sports, the initial owner of the rights.
The reason ?
The choice of the League (LFP) to grant 80% of matches to Amazon against 250 million euros while Canal + and beIN Sports, were still called upon to pay 332 million euros for 20% of matches.
In the heart of the summer, the conflict spread to the courts.
Seized in summary proceedings by beIN Sports, supported by the LFP, the commercial court therefore had to decide this Thursday whether Canal + was entitled to terminate its sub-license contract.
Canal + must finally respect its sub-license agreement signed with the Franco-Qatari group for 2020-2024.
On Wednesday, the League was able to afford a little breath: in a first part of the case, the justice having ordered beIN to honor its part of the contract, removing the dreaded hypothesis of the "black screen", matches not shown this weekend.
But this decision on Thursday does not free the sector from its uncertainties.
We are now awaiting the reaction of Canal +, which has been hammering since June that it intends to "withdraw" from Ligue 1. Several sources with knowledge of the case expect the encrypted channel to appeal, an appeal however a priori not suspensive.
As for the LFP, it hopes that the group will come to its senses in the face of possible penalties of 1.5 million euros per day of delay in the execution of the contract, requested by the League and beIN in this case.
