PARIS :Financial investigators were searching the offices of France’s LFP professional soccer league and the private equity fund CVC Capital on Tuesday, after an allegation of misappropriation of public funds, a judicial source said.
“Searches are currently under way, notably at the offices of the Ligue de Football Professionnel and the CVC investment fund,” the source told Reuters.
“The searches are part of an investigation that was opened on July 16, 2024, and handed over to the Paris Research Unit, on charges of embezzlement of public funds, active and passive bribery of a public official and illegal taking of interest.”
In 2022, CVC Capital acquired a 13 per cent stake worth 1.5 billion euros in the LFP’s newly created media rights business company.
A report by the French Senate last week said “errors were made in the last years in the management of French professional football”.
The source added on Tuesday: “These proceedings follow a complaint lodged on Nov. 27, 2023 by the ‘AC!’ association, which alleges misappropriation of public funds in 2022 ‘in connection with the creation of the LFP1 subsidiary’.”
Michel Savin, who presided over the Senate report, had said that “while the long-term usefulness of the CVC deal for the clubs remains to be demonstrated, given the dividend to be paid for life, its interest for the LFP’s management is obvious, immediate and without any future consideration”.
“The LFP is cooperating with the judicial authorities to provide all the information required for the ongoing investigation, in complete transparency,” the LFP said in a statement.
“The investigation, which is taking place in the greatest serenity, will confirm that the League’s actions have always been guided by a deep commitment to French football, in full compliance with the rules in force.”
A CVC spokesperson in Paris had no immediate comment.
