A complaint filed by the AC! Anti-Corruption association to the French National Financial Prosecutor’s Office has shed light on an alleged organized system of embezzlement in French professional soccer.
Vincent Poudampa, lawyer for the AC! Anti-Corruption association, filed a complaint against X this week with the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office (PNF). In a document of several dozen pages, which we have been able to consult, the association denounces an “organized system of capture, manipulation and misappropriation of resources” within French professional soccer. According to the complainants, the main injured parties are the Ligue de Football Professionnel (LFP), the Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 clubs, and ultimately the Qatari public authorities.
The heart of the accusations
At the heart of the case is the British agency Pitch International LLP. According to the complaint, this company is the “opaque vehicle” for a restricted network of associates and people close to Nasser Al Khelaïfi – chairman of Paris Saint Germain, boss of the beIN Sports audiovisual group and an influential member of the UEFA executive committee.
According to the complaint, this circle would have :
- Imposed Pitch International as exclusive intermediary for the marketing of the LFP’s international television rights and for certain sponsorship contracts, notably the “Visit Qatar” campaign.
- Charged commissions deemed “opaque and disproportionate”, thereby reducing the revenues distributed to French clubs.
- Set up a network of shell companies, notably in the Netherlands, to conceal the true economic beneficiaries.
- Pledged assets to Qatar National Bank, with no apparent economic justification, raising suspicions of a money-laundering scheme.
“A government blind spot
The complaint also targets the passivity of the Ministry of Sports, which is responsible for overseeing the LFP under article L132 1 of the French Sports Code. Over the past fifteen years, eight ministers – including several former top-level athletes – are said to have succeeded one another “without any serious control measures having been taken, despite multiple warning signals”, argues AC! Anti Corruption.
Private interests versus public interest
According to the plaintiffs, the arrangement in question does not serve the competitiveness of French clubs, the financial stability of the LFP or even “the objective interests of Qatar”. Rather, it benefits “a small group of people who have captured the economic flows generated by French soccer under the guise of international cooperation”.
AC! Anti-corruption affirms that, through this action, it wishes to “protect French sporting institutions, guarantee the economic autonomy of clubs and expose a private predatory enterprise disguised as an official partnership”.
Where do we go from here?
The PNF will have to decide whether or not to open a preliminary investigation. When contacted yesterday, Pitch International, beIN Sports and PSG had not yet responded. For its part, the French Ministry of Sports reiterates that it will “cooperate fully” with the judicial authorities if they take up the case.
In the meantime, this complaint has rekindled questions about the economic governance of French soccer, at a time when the LFP is looking for new investors and clubs are struggling to make up the deficits left by the health crisis and the collapse of certain television contracts.
The economics of soccer today
Business of soccer: an economy worth $300 billion, representing almost half the economic weight of sport worldwide. The “daily business of soccer” generates gigantic sales figures for numerous industrial sectors.
In France specifically
France had 46 professional soccer clubs, divided between Ligue 1 (18 clubs), Ligue 2 (18 clubs) and National 1 (10 clubs).
Professional clubs generated added value of 5.32 billion euros for the 2022-2023 season.
The biggest clubs: Real Madrid topped the list, with sales of €831 million, followed by Manchester City (€826 million) and PSG (€802 million).