Crises are conducive to questioning. The one caused by the coronavirus pandemic is disrupting the economy as a whole. Football, an industry in its own right, is no exception. While it is stationary, the model it has been built on for years is being roughed up. The world has decided to question some of its actors on the management of the current crisis, what it reveals, how to get out of it and, perhaps, the changes to be made. Gérard Lopez, owner and president of the Lille club, addresses these subjects and says, in particular, not to imagine a regulation to mitigate certain excesses.
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Talking about the financial situation of professional football at this time is not a popular subject. Do you understand it?
I have a hard time with people who criticize when we talk about football at times like this. The LOSC directly supports 300 families and indirectly around 3,000 by including providers in the region in terms of security, catering or cleaning.
As soon as we say that we have to finish the championship, we answer: “There is more important than football. " Yes, but a club is also employees, who are not just the players, and who depend on us. I am not criticized when I take care of employees in my other boxes; I cannot be criticized when I take care of my LOSC employees.
Why do UEFA and most clubs absolutely want the championships to end?
We no longer finance a football club with a fries hut and patronage. The clubs are big companies with big turnover, a large part of the revenues from TV rights. If we don’t play, there’s no TV rights.
FIFA, UEFA, federations, leagues and club leaders have a responsibility to keep the system working. This is why everyone is talking about a recovery, first of all respecting the sick and the dead, as well as, of course, government health guidelines.
What is the deadline for resumption that would allow the season to end in the coming months?
UEFA’s position today is that an unsuccessful championship is not valid. All the more reason to try to finish it. A deadline of August 3 has been set to end the French competitions. Between Ligue 1, the play-offs, the two cups, it represents 17 dates.
