Thursday, the DNCG published the accounts of French pro clubs, revealing a loss of 645 million euros over the 2020-2021 season, including 225 million euros for PSG alone.
Vincent Labrune, the president of the LFP (Professional Football League), however, did not hide his optimism for the future in an interview with the business daily Les Echos.
The former president of OM immediately affirmed that "French football is saved".
While admitting that the industrial disaster had not gone far: “French football has lost 1.8 billion in two years.
The system was nearly bankrupt.
Without the help of the State, and the involvement of the clubs, we were going straight into the wall, ”continues Labrune.
“There is no reason that the football of French clubs should not be at the level of our national team”
In post at the League since September 2020, he returned to past events "the complete cessation of competitions which caused a shortfall of 250 million euros and the failure of our broadcaster Mediapro, which caused us to lose 600 million".
In addition to the Mediapro fiasco, Labrune then denounced “a vicious structural circle” “For decades, French football has had to face very strong constraints which penalize us against the other major European leagues.
We have a domestic audiovisual market which is much less buoyant than that of our competitors.
We suffer from a particularly heavy taxation.
The Clermont club, in Ligue 1, pays more charges on its own than all the clubs in the Bundesliga.
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Among the avenues for development, Labrune highlights TV rights, especially internationally, with revenues that he hopes will grow significantly from the year 2024. He is thus targeting "rights of 1.8 billion euros". 'here 2028. ”And the president of the League is counting in particular on the locomotive of French football to achieve this.
“PSG is our strong point internationally and fortunately they are there.
We share with them the ambition to make French football a global brand,” he explains.
Despite everything, Labrune believes that the clouds have now dissipated.
He was therefore delighted with the creation of a commercial company with the CVC investment fund, which will bring in 1.5 billion euros.
“This money is anything but a blank check to reward poor students.
The DNCG will ensure that salaries do not represent more than 70% of club budgets from now on.
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With this new windfall, he does not hide his confidence for the future: "There is no reason that the football of French clubs should not be at the level of our national team which is world champion", he concludes. .
