French Ligue 1 bosses have “full confidence” in PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaïfi’s ability to negotiate with pay-television Canal Plus over its refusal to meet a €110m ($116.9m) rights fee instalment despite Khelaïfi’s potential conflict of interest as chairman of beIN Media Group.
The club presidents’ appointment of Al-Khelaïfi has raised eyebrows given the close relationship between beIN Media’s subsidiary, beIN Sports, and Canal Plus. The latter has sublicensed rights to two Ligue 1 matches per matchday from beIN for the 2020-21 to 2023-24 cycle as part of a wide-ranging distribution and sublicensing agreement.
Additionally, beIN has also refused to pay a €42m instalment due on its rights to Ligue 1 and Ligue 2. Canal Plus and beIN’s latest fee instalments were due on Sunday but have been withheld due to the absence of fixtures amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
French website Le Dauphiné Libéré quoted Bernard Caïazzo, the president of the union of Ligue 1 clubs and the supervisory board of Saint-Etienne as saying: “I’m not sure that instead of Nasser, in the same situation, many would have accepted the mission. For his part, it shows a courage and a real will to defend the interest of football…if we had only one doubt about his commitment, we would not have [appointed him].”
Al-Khelaïfi is part of a four-strong contingent of Ligue 1 presidents chosen to discuss the fee dispute with Canal, which includes Jacques-Henri Eyraud (Olympique Marseille), Olivier Sadran (Toulouse) and Jean-Pierre Rivère (Nice).
According to French newspaper L’Equipe, Canal Plus chief executive Maxime Saada called for Al-Khelaïfi to be involved. It added that the vote on the make-up of the quartet was unanimous amongst the club presidents, with Nathalie Boy de la Tour, the president of the French Professional League (LFP), abstaining on the grounds of the apparent conflict of interest. Indeed, no LFP representative will be present in the negotiation with Canal despite the broadcaster’s media-rights contracts being with the LFP, L’Equipe said.
‘We are not a bank’
The top two divisions of French football have been suspended since March 13 due to the pandemic.
Canal Plus has cited force majeure as the basis for its refusal to pay its €110m rights fee instalment. The broadcaster’s position has not softened, with Saada again on Monday re-iterating to French media Canal’s stance that it is “not a bank” for the clubs.
The LFP has said that Canal still owes it money despite the suspension of fixtures, as 28 of the 38 matchdays had been played. This amounts to 73.7 per cent of the full product having been delivered, while Canal has, so far, only paid for 67 per cent of the product. The LFP calculates the outstanding balance at €43m, including relevant taxes.
However, Saada has disputed the LFP’s view. He told the Europe 1 radio station today (Monday): “Legally, the calculation is wrong and irrelevant. This calculation is not in the contract.”
The LFP’s deals with Canal Plus and beIN Sports for Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 are worth a combined €748.5m on average per season from 2016-17 to 2019-20. The Ligue 1 rights represent €726.5m, or 97 per cent, of that sum, with the broadcasters’ Ligue 2 rights deals worth a total of €22m per season.
The LFP recently gave Canal Plus and beIN Sports access to a host of archive content following the postponement of the league.