Featured image credit: Zakarie Faibis/CC BY-SA 4.0/Edited for size
The French Football Federation (FFF) has launched a tender process to secure alternative venues for the national team’s fixtures, amid ongoing frustrations for the governing body and French Rugby Federation (FFR) over the long-term future of the Stade de France.
The FFF has made its move with an operator yet to be in place for the national stadium in Saint-Denis, Paris. The French Government in December entered into exclusive negotiations with GL Events, selecting its proposal ahead of a rival offer from incumbents Vinci and Bouygues.
The Stade de France is currently owned by the Government and is operated through the Consortium du Stade de France, which is two-thirds owned by Vinci and one-third by fellow construction engineering company, Bouygues.
Through an agreement with the Consortium, the state granted management of the 81,338-capacity stadium to the two companies in 1995. The 30-year contract with Vinci and Bouygues is set to end on July 1, and the state initially published two calls for tenders in March 2023, one for the outright sale of the stadium and the other for a new concession agreement.
The pursuit of the latter strategy was focused on after a potential buyer for the Stade de France did not come forward. GL Events has entered into discussions with the Government to assume management of the Stade de France from August as part of a new 30-year contract.
However, the process, and the selection of GL Events, has proven controversial, with news of Vinci and Bouygues’ appeal emerging in January. A request for interim relief was filed with the Tribunal administratif de Montreuil, with a hearing held on January 29 and the verdict announced on February 6.
This fell against Consortium du Stade de France and Vinci/Bouygues, but they have since taken their grievances to the Conseil d’État, France’s highest administrative jurisdiction, further delaying proceedings.
The FFF and FFR are the Stade de France’s main tenants and have been growing increasingly exasperated at the ongoing impasse. With the FFF needing to inform UEFA by the beginning of April of its venues for France’s 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers during the 2025-26 season it yesterday (Thursday) decided to launch a process to sound out alternative stadia.
“Since today, we do not know the identity of the future concession holder of the Stade de France, we are led to consider a plan B which could allow the French team to know, within the timeframes that are those of our international bodies, the location of our matches,” said FFF president Philippe Diallo, according to Le Figaro.
“This is a point, that is obviously very important for us, both in sporting symbolism, but also in the economic model that we are led to build around our flagship team.”
The current situation is somewhat familiar to the FFF, which had to find alternative venues for national team matches during the 2023-24 season, with the Stade de France off limits during the Rugby World Cup and in the lead-up to the Olympic Games.
Diallo added: “This consultation will be short-term in order to define and, as I said, provide UEFA with our locations. Today, I don’t know who, on behalf of the Stade de France, is able to respond to our call for tenders regarding security issues for matches taking place starting in September.”
Meanwhile, FFR president Florian Grill has said the governing body rejected a proposal from GL Events to become a shareholder of the company it would form to manage the Stade de France.
Speaking to RMC Sport, Grill said that he “refused quite quickly” the proposal to become a shareholder, adding that “Vinci-Bouygues had previously made us the same offer”. However, the head of French rugby revealed that he had reached an agreement with GL Events on four points.
He said: “One – we wanted a 30-year contract with a 12-year exit clause. We got it. Two – we got to play only four matches. Three – the rent has been reduced and four – we got a percentage of the return on the boxes and lounges that corresponds to what we were able to negotiate in the provinces.”
He added that the only capital structure that could gain the FFR’s approval “would possibly be a merger with the FFF, but not with a concessionaire. That doesn’t interest us”.
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