The broadcaster beIN Sports requested that every player in Ligue 1 next season wear a Visit Qatar badge on their shirt for games shown live, as part of negotiations for its new TV deal, according to senior figures at French clubs.
Multiple sources claim the request was made on behalf of the Qatari-owned company by its chairman, Nasser al-Khelaifi, who is also chairman of Paris Saint-Germain, during a meeting between the presidents of several Ligue 1 clubs this week. A source close to the discussions at beIN Sports and PSG strenuously denied any such request was made.
One owner, who did not want to be named, described it as “an attempt to build a captive league”. This month, the Ligue de Football Professionnel (LFP) announced it had reached an agreement for Dazn to show the vast majority of live Ligue 1 matches until 2029, with beIN Sports paying €100m a season for one primetime match a week.
The deal with Dazn is believed to have been ratified by the LFP’s board on Thursday but negotiations with beIN Sports are continuing owing to what sources have described as the “extremely complex” nature of its offer.
It is understood its original agreement with the LFP included only €50m a season in TV rights, with the rest made up in sponsorship deals. According to the French newspaper L’Équipe, the LFP has negotiated the sponsorship element down to 20% in recent days. Senior club figures said a request for players to wear Visit Qatar badges had caused major friction.
“What if I want to bring in Saudi money as an investor?” one told the Guardian. “They’re trying to build a captive league. It’s my understanding after the call among the presidents that there are a lot of new terms that are being put on the table.”
The source at PSG and beIN Sports described the claims as “an outrageous campaign from those clubs who want to launch an LFP channel direct, rather than have traditional broadcasters”.
Dazn is set to pay €400m a season for eight out of the nine matches in each round, although the agreement is believed to contain an exit clause after two years if it does not reach 1.5 million subscribers. Its deal represents a significant reduction in the €800m contract signed by Mediapro in 2018 despite the LFP president Vincent Labrune’s prediction that the next round of TV rights would reach the €1bn mark.
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He had floated the idea of an in-house TV channel in partnership with Warner Bros Discovery’s Max streaming service before agreeing the deal with Dazn and beIN Sports. The LFP did not respond to a request for comment.
Source: theguardian.com
