LFP-Mediapro conflict: "Problems linked to a kind of greed and unrealism" (J-M Blanquer, Minister)

"I trust the actors in professional football to find the exit solutions. Of course we follow the situation, and we do not take away responsibility. But we are not intended to compensate for problems that were ultimately generated by a kind of greed and unrealism," stated Jean-Michel Blanquer, French Minister of National Education, Youth and Sports, about the conflict between the Chinese-Spanish audiovisual group Mediapro and the LFP, on RTL radio on 22/11/2020.

The Chinese-Spanish audiovisual group Mediapro wishes to renegotiate down the first year (2020-21) of its contract with the LFP for an amount between €170m and €200m, reported the French sports daily L'Equipe on 06/11/2020. Mediapro is contracted to pay an estimated amount of €830m per season for the broadcasting rights to 85% (including 80% exclusively) of Ligue 1 Uber Eats games and 80% of Ligue 2 BKT games over the 2020-2024 cycle. This potential discounted price would therefore represent a drop of between 20% and 25% of the amount for the first season.

Mediapro was scheduled to pay the LFP its second installment in an…