Source: Live broadcast
On September 19th, the Parisian newspaper reported that Diallo, president of the French Football Association, proposed a new "club company" plan to replace the professional football league.
French Football Association (FFF) chairman Philippe-Diallo introduced his new "club company" project to the Football Association and clubs on Tuesday, aiming to replace the existing professional football league.
The plan, announced on Tuesday to the Federal Executive Committee, the Professional Football League (LFP) and clubs, aims to establish a new "club company" by July 2026 to replace the existing LFP.
In addition, he hopes to unite the French football community before the legislative proposal on professional sports organizations is passed by Parliament. It is expected that a consensus will be reached around the new management structure, which will be responsible for managing and operating the FA and FA leagues, in late September and early October.
According to Diallo’s proposal, the new company will merge existing LFP and its media subsidiary LFP Media, which is mainly responsible for the sales of television streaming rights, and will also create a platform to play most of the top games this season.
The future "club company" will no longer have a separate presidency, but will be jointly managed by independent managers of 36 professional clubs, similar to Nicholas de Tavenst in LFP Media. The managers will be appointed by an oversight committee comprised of individual clubs, each of which will hold a share in the company. In addition, the committee will also include representatives of investment company CVC, players, referees, coaches, medical staff and administrative staff, as well as the French Football Association.
The French Football Association will have extensive veto power to ensure that the overall interests of football are safeguarded. For example, when deciding the number of teams participating in Ligue 1 and Ligue 2, the French Football Association can express its opinion. At the same time, the "Club Company" will also set up a shareholders' meeting, and clubs at all league levels can have decision-making power on matters that directly affect them.
The new company’s responsibilities include selling television broadcasting rights, organizing and regulating competitions, and approving sports betting in its events. In addition to the financial regulatory agency DNCG being incorporated into FIFA’s jurisdiction, the new architecture will retain all the functions of the current LFP. This is a political gesture of Diallo, indicating that FIFA does not intend to fully control FA and FA League.
For Diallo, the key task at present is to unite all parties involved and strive for support in the more divided National Assembly. Earlier, the Senate almost unanimously passed a legal proposal, while the French Football Association advocated abolishing the provisions on restricting the salary of professional league executives. According to the proposal of the Senate, the annual salary of these executives is capped at 450,000 euros, while the annual salary of current LFP president Vincent Lablen is 800,000 euros.
Diallo said: “This must be reconsidered, and remuneration should be freely determined by shareholders in order to attract the best talent.”