The third day of Ligue 2 football took place in a particularly tense environment on Friday 30 and Saturday 31 August. The conflict between fans and broadcaster beIN Sports since the start of the championship on Friday 16 August over the scheduling of matches has not yet been resolved, and further protests are expected in the stadiums.
The source of the fans’ anger is a disagreement over the calendar of sporting events. Scheduled for Saturday at 7 p.m. by the Professional Football League (LFP) in its call for tenders published in September 2023, the L2 multiplex evening was finally postponed to Friday at 8 p.m. and one of the matches to Monday evening, at the request of the Federation. Channel of the Qatari group beIN Media Group. The latter must broadcast the entire competition until 2029 and has taken out the chequebook for it, worth 40 million euros per season.
A choice quickly questioned by the supporters’ clubs of the L2, who denounced the holding of matches at times unfavourable to attendance at the stadiums, especially for outings. Around the slogan “Football is the weekend”, the revolt took different forms: entertainment strikeProtest banners on the steps facing the channel: “beIN Sports is killing football” – and the president of the LFP, Vincent Labrune, green lasers pointed at the cameras and commentators of the sports channel, tennis balls thrown on the pitches or smoke bombs… So many acts that sometimes seriously disrupted the normal course of the matches and, consequently, the broadcasting and programming of beIN Sports.
“Some undeniable excesses”
“To say that we are spitting on Ligue 2 is totally unfair! »Florent Houzot, editorial and antenna director of the sports channel, had protested on August 13 in The team. “We are not responsible for the late attribution of rights”again ruled out. In a letter sent to the National Fans Association, beIN Sports was more threatening.
“Without beIN, there would probably be no multiplex, whatever the day, as beIN is the only broadcaster willing to significantly support Ligue 2”His boss had stated, insisting that “This unprecedented level of investment[était] It is only possible by scheduling matches on Fridays, Saturdays and Mondays.”.
However, tensions rose slightly on Saturday 24 August, around the match between Lorient and Grenoble, when dozens of masked men damaged the van of the service provider AMP Visual TV, which records matches for beIN Sports, by spraying it with paint. “The acts of violence (…) suffered by our production partner and our employees have no place in football or in a civilized society”beIN Sports reacted, while the LFP had “We strongly condemn acts of malice”.
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