French League President poised for re-election amid mounting pressure

Under-pressure French league president Vincent Labrune is set to be waved through for a new term in elections on September 10 after none of his main rivals managed to secure the support needed to stand, sources with knowledge of the process told AFP on Friday.

Applicants needed to have the backing of two syndicates: Foot Unis, which brings together professional clubs in France, and the UAF union which comprises players, coaches, referees, doctors, and other administrative staff involved in running the sport.

Labrune was one of only two figures to receive the support of both syndicates. The other was Karl Olive, a serving deputy in the French National Assembly who was designated by the French Football Federation to represent it at the league.

But Olive is not a candidate to be president of the LFP, leaving the way clear for Labrune to remain in a position he has occupied since 2020.

That is despite Labrune, a former president of Ligue 1 giants Marseille, being the subject of criticism after the LFP's search for a new domestic broadcaster for the next five years turned into a fiasco.

The LFP, which oversees the top two divisions in French football, had hoped to approach one billion euros ($1.1 billion) a year for the sale of its rights to domestic broadcasters.

In the end, it agreed to a deal worth only 500 million euros a year with British streaming platform DAZN and Qatar's beIN Sports, with that amount 20 percent down on the previous contract.

Labrune, 53, was also behind a controversial deal with CVC Capital Partners, which saw the private equity firm offer 1.5 billion euros in exchange for a permanent 13 percent cut of the LFP's commercial income.

The deal was struck at a time when French clubs were in desperate need of funds due to the economic crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Gervais Martel, the former president of Ligue 1 side Lens who had hoped to stand against Labrune, described the governance crisis in French football as "crazy".

"It is as if there were a presidential election with 15 candidates and it was decided only two were allowed to stand," Martel told sports daily L'Equipe.

"We are in the land of the crazies. Where is the democracy in this? I have no intention of allowing myself to be pushed around."