Since he is no longer president of Olympique Lyonnais (OL), Jean-Michel Aulas has further stepped up his long-standing investment in women’s football, a dossier he manages within the executive committee of the French Football Federation (FFF). The 70-year-old notably led the negotiations for the rights to Les Bleues matches – excluding the 2023 World Cup – assigned to France Télévisions and the M6 group until 30 June 2027 and those of Division 1 that Canal + retained until 2029. also closely followed the complicated discussions between French and European operators and the International Federation (FIFA) for the rebroadcast of the World Cup matches taking place from 20 July to 20 August, in Australia, and which concluded on Wednesday 14 June.
While the FFF hasn’t directly handled the talks about broadcasting the next World Cup, it must come as a relief to you to see that an agreement has been reached just over a month after the competition opens…
It was obvious that things would settle down with FIFA. I participated in the direct tender and conciliation with the institution. We have met several times with people from FIFA and, last week, [son président] Gianni Infantino.
The International Federation had proposed figures to try to be in tune with the players’ requests, which it consulted through a group of representatives. We had to be ambitious, up to the needs and expectations of women’s football.
The leaders of Fifa started from a very high level, from 15 million euros. It is finally between six and ten million euros. This result demonstrates that the body has complied with the players’ requests to be at a certain financial level. The two operators [les groupes France Télévisions et M6] have made considerable efforts, the Minister [des sports, Amélie Oudéa-Castéra] said.
Are you also satisfied with the deal concluded by the FFF for the rights to Les Bleues matches outside the World Cup with the same two operators?
We are very satisfied. We are not very far from what has been done in England and ahead of the other European competitors. This is a total amount higher than the amount of the previous call for tenders, which in the current context was not discounted from the outset. Women’s football is growing globally and also in France where we are changing everything. Today we also have a coach [Hervé Renard] which adds communication skills to coaching skills. We are entering an exceptional cycle with the World Cup in July and next year’s Olympics in Paris. All these conditions make the time right to enter the dance.
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