French football on the brink of bankruptcy: The worst is yet to come

Jean-Marc Mickeler, the president of French football's National Directorate of Management Control (DNCG), is pessimistic with regard to the future of Ligue 1 and has not ruled out possible club bankruptcies.

The last Ligue 1 season ended with an operating loss of 1.4 billion euros from TV rights, transfers, tickets and sponsorships, following losses of 1.2 billion euros in 2019/20.

Bankruptcies can't be ruled out

In an interview with L'Equipe, Mickeler claims that "the worst is yet to come" as the teams' total debt exceeds one million euros.

He also warned that if Ligue 1's 330m euro deal with Canal+ doesn't arrive and there are more losses, "bankruptcies can't be ruled out."

Mickeler also stressed there are shareholders who have reached "the end of their ability to plug the economic holes" at some struggling French clubs.

Club issues

Bordeaux avoided bankruptcy following the takeover of former Lille owner Gerard Lopez, but Mickeler is adamant that there are other clubs who should change their business model to survive.

"The teams must reduce their wage bill," Mickeler noted, also indicating that there are seven Ligue 1 teams who have more than 40 players on the payroll.