Canal + threatens the League with legal action to be able to broadcast Ligue 1 +

Before the evening match, which will see the reigning champions Paris take on the men of SCO Angers, another match will take place on Friday afternoon, away from the pitches with the final whistle at 3 p.m. sharp. It pits the Canal + channel against the Professional Football League (LFP) .

The latest row comes in a letter written by the president of the encrypted channel, Maxime Saada, revealed by L'Equipe . Addressed on Wednesday, August 20, to Nicolas de Tavernost , the boss of LFP Media, the letter requires him to release the streams allowing the distribution of Ligue 1+ by Friday 3 p.m., or face legal action for "abusive discrimination."

Analysis

In the text, the channel indicates that it had entered into a distribution agreement with LFP Media before Nicolas de Tavernost made the application of this agreement conditional on Canal abandoning the proceedings initiated since 2021 against the League.

Canal + is claiming more than €600 million in compensation for the damage it claims to have suffered following the failure of broadcaster Mediapro . The LFP had then sold the eight Ligue 1 matches broadcast by Mediapro to Amazon Prime for €250 million, while maintaining its contract with Canal + for two matches for €332 million.

"We have looked for any mention of such a condition in the numerous written exchanges we have had, in vain," writes Maxime Saada , in the letter published by L'Equipe. A version contested by LFP Media, according to which no formal contract has been sealed between the two parties, the League always requesting beforehand the end of the proceedings initiated by Canal +.

"We hereby formally require you to demonstrate, before the morning of August 21, that the parties had made Canal +'s waiver of all pending litigation against the LFP an essential element of the Ligue 1 + service distribution contract. Failing this, this contract is deemed to have been concluded since the evening of August 18 and must be implemented immediately," wrote the channel's boss.

"In the absence of such a demonstration, we are giving you formal notice to make the streams enabling the distribution of the Ligue 1+ service available to Canal+ again , and this must be done before 3 p.m. on August 22, 2025 […] Failing this, we will have no choice but to take this matter to court," he added at the end of the letter.

When contacted by AFP, LFP Media indicated that it had rejected Maxime Saada's letter. Canal + declined to comment when contacted.

Following the divorce in early May between the LFP and the streaming platform DAZN , the main broadcaster of Ligue 1 since the start of the 2024-25 season, the League opted to create a 100% L1 channel which it owns. It has since entered into distribution agreements with most telecom operators and streaming platforms and already claims more than 600,000 subscribers.