Vincent Labrune stays in charge as governance reform stalls in the National Assembly | OneFootball

With France’s governance reform still unresolved, Vincent Labrune remains at the helm of professional football and is handling day-to-day business.

According to L'Équipe, the Senate approved a governance overhaul on 10 June 2025, creating a clubs’ company and boosting FFF powers. The change would have ushered in his exit, which he had seemed ready to accept amid a bruising economic climate.

But the bill still awaits debate in the National Assembly, after planned slots in July, then September to October, then March slipped. With the parliamentary session nearing its end, it is unlikely to be tabled, so the LFP leadership remains in place.

That is even more the case since Nicolas de Tavernost quit as chief executive of LFP Media, the League’s commercial arm. Labrune is helping recruit his successor with a specialist firm and the clubs.

The target profile is a business leader able to handle domestic and international broadcast rights and sponsorship, dovetailing with the president’s political brief.

Immediate priorities include the McDonald’s naming-rights deal for Ligue 1, which replaced Uber Eats, and expires at the end of next season. Renewal on current terms, 30 million euros per year, looks difficult, with early signals not especially encouraging.

He must also weigh a possible tweak to the split of international rights income, currently reserved for clubs in European competition, which could be widened to support more teams. As for his tenure, he could remain into next season or even until 2028 if the overhaul continues to drift. Those seeking his departure, including Lens, OM and Le Havre, may be stymied, especially if the reform is ultimately shelved.

Source: L'Équipe