In a column titled “Professional Football, a Match Not to Lose”, shared with several regional generalist media outlets (La Voix du Nord, Ouest-France, La Provence), seven club presidents, including Joseph Oughourlian, head of RC Lens, are sounding the alarm on the need to change the governance of French professional football.
It is not surprising to find Joseph Oughourlian, long engaged in this battle, among the signatories. Just like the owner of Olympique de Marseille, Frank McCourt, who participated in a joint interview several months ago with Joseph Oughourlian on the subject in the columns of Le Figaro. Pierre Ferracci (Paris FC), Guillaume Cerutti (Rennes), Michele Kang (Lyon), Jean-Michel Roussier (Le Havre), and Bernard Serin (Metz) are the other leaders who have signed this document to engage in a common initiative to halt the decline of French professional football.
The National Assembly has not yet considered the reform project that envisions a transition to a club-based system.
In the column, the signatories mention an ecosystem that goes beyond the teams playing on the field, involving over 40,000 jobs in France, impacting numerous suppliers and service providers, but now deemed “fragile”. A report published last month by UEFA on the financial situation of European clubs highlights a worrying reality: the economic weakening of French professional football and its increasing gap with the four dominant leagues on the continent. This crisis arises against the backdrop of TV rights collapsing over the years, following the failures of operations with Mediapro and DAZN, as well as conflicting relationships with Canal+ and beIN Sports. TV rights now represent only 19% of the total revenue of Ligue 1 clubs, compared to 35% to 46% in other major European leagues.
“On a sporting level, this imbalance weakens the competitiveness of our clubs and could ultimately condemn us to playing secondary roles in Europe,” add the signatories, explaining that clubs must reduce their expenses, adapt their models, and become even more dependent on player transfers – especially young talents trained in their academies – to the financially stronger leagues. Through this column, the seven clubs call on the authorities to accelerate the necessary and urgent reform of the governance of French professional football. A project led by Laurent Lafon and Michel Savin has been in the works for several months, aiming to replace the current League with a club-based system, inspired by the model in England. This evolution is deemed “essential to professionalize the management of TV rights and rethink the strategy for promoting our league to the public and broadcasters.”
The text concludes: “It is now up to the Government to include this fundamental text on the agenda of the National Assembly. This step must happen as early as this spring to prepare for the next professional season with renewed governance. Clubs and their supporters are calling for it, to usher French football into a new era, more serene and ambitious. France must not lose this match!”
