French football strike goes ahead

By Liam Power, Reporter | 01 November 2013

French football union chiefs meet with president Francois Hollande to discuss the 75% tax proposal, but decide against calling off strike action.

The Union of Professional Football Clubs have this afternoon confirmed that the planned Ligue 1 strike will go ahead at the end of November, after a meeting with French president Francois Hollande failed to prove fruitful.

Hollande met UCFP representatives yesterday to discuss the proposed 75% tax rate due to be imposed on top earners in France, which would affect Ligue 1 players earning above £850,000 per year.

UCFP president Jean-Pierre Louvel declared that he put a number of tax amendments forward to Hollande over several hours on Thursday, but heard nothing to suggest that strike action is avoidable.

Lovel told reporters: "We had a rather long meeting with the president, and he heard us out. He explained to us the difficulties he is facing and we did the same.

"But despite our putting forward several proposals we put forward, notably concerning the retro-activity of the tax, no breakthroughs were made concerning possible solutions.

"So naturally, our planned actions for the weekend of November 29 to December 2 will go ahead as planned. There is no reason for us to change our plans unless, before then, we can agree on amendments to the tax that will allow our clubs to absorb it."

Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 matches are currently due to be suspended from November 29 to December 2, with talks ongoing over the best course of action.