French League gives Mediapro formal notice to pay broadcast rights instalment

PARIS (Reuters) - The French League (LFP) has given Spanish media rights agency Mediapro formal notice to pay them 172 million euros as part of its Ligue 1 broadcasting deal, the governing body said on Thursday.

Mediapro, which is due to pay 780 million euros per season for its contract to broadcast Ligue 1 games, is majority-owned by Chinese private equity fund Orient Hontai. It had asked to renegotiate the deal amid the COVID-19 crisis, but the request was turned down by the LFP.

"We have enforced our contract with Mediapro and have given them formal notice to pay the instalments of Oct. 1 and 5, while activating the guarantee given by the parent company of the Mediapro group," Arnaud Rouger, the LFP's executive general director, was quoted as saying by French sports daily L'Equipe.

"There are then two possibilities, either a favourable outcome is found with Mediapro, or it is not the case, and we will have to consider a takeover of the contract by other operators."

Mediapro declined to comment when contacted by Reuters.

(Reporting by Julien Pretot; Editing by Alex Richardson)