Raid on the French association LFP

A raid is underway in France Financial investigation at the football league association LFP and the financial investor CVC because of suspicions Misappropriation of public funds and corruption. The searches followed investigations started in July that were examining the financial investor’s entry into the marketing of the TV rights for the French soccer league Ligue 1 in 2022, the financial prosecutor’s office in Paris said.

The accusation

According to media reports, the investigators also approached the league president Vincent Labrune to. The raid came six days after a report was presented to the Paris Senate that league officials received large bonuses from the deal with CVC and therefore had a personal interest in the deal. Accordingly, league president Labrune should receive a bonus of three million euros his annual salary is said to have tripled to 1.2 million euros.

The investigation was triggered by a complaint from the anti-corruption association “AC!” At the end of 2023, the accusation of embezzlement of public funds was raised during the establishment of a subsidiary of the LFP that would take care of the marketing of the TV rights, the public prosecutor’s office said.

In France, CVC bought 13 percent of the shares in the newly founded LFP subsidiary in 2022 for around 1.5 billion euros. In return, 13 percent of the marketing proceeds go to the investor. Two years after the investor’s much-discussed entry, Ligue 1 sold its TV rights from next season to the streaming service DAZN and the Qatari broadcaster beIN Sports this summer.

The deal caused criticism in France because it only brings the league around 500 million euros per season. This means that it is far below the expectations that were formulated when investor CVC got involved.