French football suffered a heavy blow yesterday with the announcement of the shutdown of the broadcaster Mediapro and his chain Telefoot.
The Sino-Spanish group has reached an agreement with the Professional Football League for a cessation of the broadcasting of Ligue 1 and Ligue 2. Pending a new broadcaster, the channel Telefoot will continue to broadcast the French championship, until the winter break. The reactions multiply from this cleaver. After the draw between Saint-Etienne and Angers (0-0, 14th day of Ligue 1), Friday evening in Geoffroy-Guichard, the coach of the Greens Claude Puel did not hide his fears at a press conference on the future of French football.
“I have an extended role. I know where the club finances are, what’s going on, what we’ve done and we can do. It’s a very difficult situation for all French clubs. There is a shortfall which is very important. The clubs, the presidents, the League fight to ensure the future of French football. We are there. Behind the scenes, they are fighting to overcome this pitfall and this bad patch. This is not obvious. This is happening in the midst of a pandemic, with everything clubs have to face. It’s unfortunate, but it must give us even more strength, the players and the staff, to be even more present and give the best of ourselves in this situation.”