Nine 'Small' Ligue 1 Clubs To Boycott TV Rights Distribution Meeting

A meeting of Ligue 1 clubs is planned for Friday “to decide on a new distribution of TV rights,” but the president of Guingamp announced that “the small clubs will boycott,” according to Étienne Moatti of L’ÉQUIPE. The French top-flight is split, with 11 teams (Paris St. Germain, Lyon, Monaco, Bordeaux, Lille, Saint-Étienne, Nice Toulouse, Angers and Nantes) that are “remaining loyal” to the league union, and nine other clubs (Guingamp, Rennes, Dijon, Metz, Bastia, Montpellier, Caen, Nancy and Lorient) that “want more solidarity.” Guingamp President Bertrand Desplat said, “None of the nine clubs will show. From our perspective, we presented, on October 27, a detailed proposal for better distribution (more equal). They have to provide their proposal. But since then, we have not received anything from them. We’ll give them time to agree among themselves, to work, before we meet to discuss concrete plans.” The conflict between the “big” and “small” clubs in French Football is “far from settled” (L’ÉQUIPE, 11/3).