Second French broadcaster tells league: no games, no cash

PARIS: A second French broadcaster, BeIN has suspended the payment of TV rights for French league because it has no games to air due to the coronavirus pandemic.

BeIN made clear it was not going to pay the next instalment of its contract in a letter to the French league (LFP) seen by AFP on Wednesday.

Canal+, which pays more to show more matches, had already said it would not pay its next instalment.

BeIN and league leaders Paris Saint-Germain are both Qatariowned and are run by the same man, Nasser Al-Khelaifi

“Our group has taken the decision to suspend the next payments provided for in our agreement until Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 can resume according to a schedule that allows their normal broadcasting to our subscribers,” the BeIN director general Yousef Al-Obaidly wrote in the letter to the LFP.

The league told AFP that it “confirms BeIN’s letter” but would make “no further comment”.

Al-Obaidly told AFP that he was available to discuss “safeguards put in place by the League for the continuation of the current league and the resumption of next season”.

BeIN was due to make a payment of 42 million euros on April 5.

Canal+ told AFP on Monday that it would not honour the next payment of the TV rights.

“When matches are no longer delivered, payments are suspended,” an executive at Canal+ told AFP. “Canal+ is not a bank.”

The next payments from Canal+ and BeIN are due in June.

The LFP says Canal+ was already 43 million euros behind in payments.

TV rights made up 36 percent of the total income of Ligue 1 clubs in 2018-2019,

From next season, Spanish group Mediapro will take over the bulk of the LFP rights. BeIN has solds its smaller slice to Canal+, which missed out in the original bidding. - AFP