Phil and Anto are joined by French football journalist Philippe Auclair at a point in the season where weather is affecting the schedule of fixtures in a very disappointing way. We check in with the favorites in Ligue 1 at this juncture, but the primary focus of this episode is the economics behind the league and French football in general as information has come to light surrounding the potential for conflict of interest for Michel Platini given his role at UEFA and FIFA, along with his connections to QSI in the PSG sale with his World Cup vote held in the balance. Add to this the recent appointment of his son, Laurent, to QSI and suddenly questions are now being raised about how these moving pieces all fit and whether the UEFA president has entered a tenuous place politically given that European football has entered its first measuring point with respect to Financial Fair Play. Philippe helps us deconstruct most of these moving parts to establish whether this is some form of collusion under way and how these events should be explored. This also opens questions around PSG itself where players are arriving in greater frequency and with greater cost and how commercial realities are being addressed by QSI heading into a cycle where Euro 2016 will help address the stadium situation and improve match day revenue for one of the emerging clubs in world football. We also check in with AS Monaco who has also been bought and how they look to progress and find themselves back in Ligue 1, freed from the restrictions of UEFA FFP as they are in Ligue 2 with 10 new signings.

Philippe Auclair

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