KEIR RADNEDGE REPORTS: French football, in the nick of time, has agreed a revamped television package to keep the professional game afloat.

Traditional partner Canal+, after all, will broadcast all the rest of this season’s Ligue 1 programme for the first time since 2008. It will pay €203m.

This fee will be welcome by clubs teeteering on the brink of pandemic-induced bankruptcy though nowhere near the original €1.2bn deal with Mediapro, Canal+, BeIN Sports and Free which collapsed before Christmas.

At least the new deal gives the league time to continue discussions about future coverage with not only Canal+, but also DAZN, Amazon and Discovery.

Canal+ will drive a hard bargain for next season and demand a monopoly which could fall foul of European competition regulations.

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