Lens v PSG to air on beIN Sports, not Ligue 1+ | OneFootball

Lens v PSG, the headline game of the 29th round, will be shown on beIN Sports at 17:00 on Saturday 11 April, rather than on Ligue 1+. The match could prove pivotal in the title race.

The LFP published the TV slots for the round on Friday. According to L'Équipe, calendar quirks and Ligue 1’s complex rules have handed beIN Sports the top pick this time.

Ligue 1+ normally holds first choice on odd matchdays, but Ligue 1+ had already locked in PSG v OL for the 30th round as one of the immovable top 10 fixtures. When one of those top 10 falls on an even round, beIN automatically takes the previous round’s first pick, hence Lens v PSG.

Under rules preventing the same team being shown on consecutive league weekends, beIN is understood to have had its matchday 28 first choice downgraded to fifth. It would have preferred Monaco v OM, but that was barred after scheduling OL v Monaco in J27.

PSG v Toulouse and Lille v Lens were also unavailable because of Lens v PSG in J29, while Angers v OL was blocked by the OL v Monaco pick in J27. As a result, the broadcaster will carry Strasbourg v Nice at 17:00 on Saturday 4 April.

beIN has challenged these restrictions in court, but on 27 January the tribunal des activités économiques de Paris dismissed its case and ordered it to pay 14 130 000€ in outstanding instalments. The broadcaster can still appeal.

Source: L'Équipe