France: Ligue 1 club presidents create the "Première Ligue" union, chaired by Bernard Caïazzo (ASSE)

The 19 presidents of Ligue 1 clubs (all except Bertrand Desplat, the president of En Avant de Guingamp), meeting in Paris (FRA), decided to form a new union of professional football clubs, which takes the name "Première Ligue", according to a statement obtained by News Tank Football on 01/09/2015.

Bernard Caïazzo, the chairman of AS Saint-Étienne, has been appointed the president of the "initial staffing", which includes nine members. The "Première Ligue" aims, according to the statement, "to represent the clubs in Ligue 1 and to work towards the necessary reforms to ensure the success of French professional football in very difficult economic times, and faced with heightened European competition".

The 19 members clubs of the new "Première Ligue" union of French professional football clubs:

• Angers SCO
• AS Monaco
• AS Saint-Étienne
• ESTAC Troyes
• FC Lorient
• FC Nantes
• GFC Ajaccio
• FC Girondins de Bordeaux
• LOSC Lille
• Montpellier HSC
• OGC Nice
• Olympique Lyonnais
• Olympique de Marseille
• Paris Saint-Germain
• SC Bastia
• SM Caen
• Stade de Reims
• Stade Rennais
• Toulouse FC

Initial…