"Impossible to reconcile athletic performance and financial stability" (Frédéric Paquet, LOSC Lille)

"The top level is expensive, and the current system makes team performance and financial stability impossible," said Frédéric Paquet, deputy director general of LOSC Lille (Ligue 1, FRA), about French professional clubs, on the 14/11/2013.

"We can not separate sport from economics. We, the leaders, fight every day to try to find a balance between the two. Unfortunately, in the current state, we have to solve an equation that is proving unsolvable," said the Lille director in an interview published on the club website (www.losc.fr).

Those who demand a "high performing team" can not be surprised that "the club is in economic imbalance," he says. And those seeking a "club economically afloat" can not, according to him,"demand at the same time a competitive team."

The Lille director fears that French clubs have been drawn into a vicious circle: shrinking budgets cause a drop in the performance of the teams, which results in a lower quality game, which induces a decrease in revenue, etc..

"As a leader for over 12 years of a club who went from Ligue 2 to winning the (Ligue 1) League and Cup…