Since he is no longer president of Olympique Lyonnais (OL), Jean-Michel Aulas has further intensified his long-standing investment in women’s football – a file he manages within the executive committee of the French Federation. football (FFF). The septuagenarian notably led the negotiations for the rights to the matches of Les Bleues – excluding the 2023 World Cup – allocated to France Télévisions and the M6 group until June 30, 2027 and those of Division 1 that Canal + kept until 2029. He also closely followed the complicated discussions between French and European operators and the International Federation (FIFA) for the retransmission of the World Cup matches which takes place from July 20 to August 20, in Australia, which ended on Wednesday June 14.
Even though the FFF did not directly handle the negotiations over the broadcast of the next World Cup, it must be a relief for you to see that an agreement has been reached just over a month from the opening. of the competition…
It was obvious that things would settle down with FIFA. I participated in the direct call for tenders and the reconciliation with the authority. We met several times with people from FIFA and, last week, [son président] Gianni Infantino.
The International Federation had put forward figures to try to be in harmony with the demands of the players, whom it consulted through a group of representatives. We had to be ambitious, up to the demands 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 proves that the body has respected the requests of the players to be at a certain financial level. The two operators [les groupes France Télévisions et M6] have made significant efforts, the Minister [des sports, Amélie Oudéa-Castéra] said it.
Are you also satisfied with the agreement 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 is done in England and ahead of other European competitors. This is overall higher than the amount of the previous call for tenders, which in the current context was not obvious at the start. Women’s football is on the rise 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 the Olympic Games next year in Paris. All these conditions make it the right time to enter the dance.
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