Takeover of the FFF, disappearance of the LFP… Four questions on the reform of French football

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The overhaul of French football presented on Monday, May 12, promises a significant structural change in governance, but it will not necessarily resolve the immediate financial difficulties linked to recent disputes over TV rights.

Sports Minister Marie Barsacq and French Football Federation President Philippe Diallo in Paris on May 12, 2025. (Julien De Rosa/AFP)

A "breakthrough" project to save French football, which is in a state of asphyxiation, before it is too late. This is the objective of the reform of Philippe Diallo, the president of the French Football Federation (FFF), whose (very) broad outlines were presented on the evening of Monday, May 12. The project intends to shake up the established model by creating a "club society," replacing the Professional Football League (LFP), which is not up to the task in the matter of TV rights and, more generally, in defending the interests of French football. Libération explains the outlines of a still unclear reform, and the repercussions it could have for clubs.

These changes do not come out of null