Ligue 1 needs more big clubs, says LFP official

PARIS, March 29 (Xinhua) -- French professional football league (LFP) Chief Executive Didier Quillot called for more big clubs, maybe four or five, to challenge Paris Saint-Germain's supremacy in Ligue 1 for improving the overall level of the league.

"We need more than one club. PSG is a great club, and helps us increase our ranking and exposure. But even PSG is good for us, we need more, four or five clubs," said Quillot in Thursday's interview with Chinese media.

"Marseille was a really powerful side with passionate people and big stadium, and they won the Champions League in 1993. Lyon also had the capacity to become a big club. Monaco made it into the semi-finals of last season's Champions League.

"We are looking for the buyer of Bordeaux. I was in New York several days ago to find an investor to come to France. Saint-Etienne also could be acquired by a powerful investor.

"Only one powerful club is not enough. We need more," admitted Quillot, who, however, showed his great faith in the league's future.

"We have a lot of young talents like Mbappe and Rabiot. France is very famous for its academies producing talented players. We try to keep them in France. Ligue 1 is where you can discover talents," he said.

"European participation is something that we have to improve. We have four or five stadiums with full capacity in almost every match, and stars like Neymar and Balotelli. Premier League is far ahead, but apart from it, we believe that Ligue 1 is at the same level as other leagues."

According to LFP's figures, the PSG-Nice clash with kick-off time put forward to 1 p.m. local time, attracted a record of two million Chinese viewers.

"Reactions from clubs were very positive," said Quillot, adding that it's important to promote Ligue 1 in China and LFP is glad to repeat it at least twice next year.

"Opening the office in Beijing, we want to increase exposure of Ligue 1 in China as much as we can.

"We need to be more present on social network and increase broadcast exposure. French league needs to send more teams to China for the tour, not only for the French Super Cup. Moreover, we need to look for partnership with academies in China and authorize Chinese players to play in France.

"If we can do these five things, we will recover from our delay compared with other European major leagues," he added.

"We have no other choice but keep patient," he pointed out. Enditem