French press review 7 March 2012

The presidential race once again makes headlines in the French papers today, with a special look at Hollande's proposed taxing of the rich. If Hollande gets elected, French footballers' inflated salaries will surely be heavily taxed. But does this mean that football in France will bite the dust?

There are three lessons to be drawn from the latest opinion poll on the French presidential race, published in today's centrist Le Monde.

The second lesson is that the Socialist contender, François Hollande, and current president, Nicolas Sarkozy, are both losing supporters by the bucketful.

The third lesson is that the so-called second division candidates Marine Le Pen, François Bayrou and Jean-Luc Mélenchon are all making progress.

Which brings me, finally, to the first lesson. According to the Le Monde poll, the vast majority of French people are bored stiff by the election campaign, and couldn't give a fried fig, one way or the other.

Why then, you have to wonder, is Nicolas Sarkozy on so many of this morning's front pages?

Yes, of course, he was on primetime TV last night, locking horns with Hollande's spokesman, the former Socialist Prime Minister, Laurent Fabius. But with two-thirds of voters saying they couldn't care less, is it any wonder newspaper sales are going backwards?

Business daily Les Echos gives pride of place to the other old chestnut of contemporary journalism, with a main headline telling us that world markets took a dive yesterday because of Greece.

Today's the day when Europe's privately-owned banks have to grin and bear the writing-off of most of the money they loaned to Athens. If three-quarters of the banks agree, Greece will be saved, once again, and only temporarily.

But everyone wants to be in the quarter that gets some return on its loans, and that's complicating negotiations. World market values fell dramatically yesterday because, if the banks can't agree, Greece will go bankrupt.

A Reuters report quoted by Les Echos suggests that a collapse of the Greek economy will cost the eurozone one thousand billion euros. In the case of total collapse, of course, nobody will get a brass farthing and, tomorrow, we'll all have to start bailing out Portugal, Ireland, Spain and Italy.

You may remember that yesterday we were talking about François Hollande's determination to tax those who earn more than a million euros per year at the rate of 75 per cent.

Specifically, it has been alleged by various interested parties that the move will have a negative impact on the game of football here in France.

The argument goes that French clubs will no longer be able to attract the vital big name stars if the big number salaries cease to be on offer.

The story hasn't gone away.

In today's Le Monde, François Hollande is sticking to his guns. He says there'll be no exception for footballers, since their sector is already a disgraceful example of hyperinflation, with salaries that bear no relation to any kind of reality.

Hollande accepts that the measures will have an impact on the French game, but claims that the top players are already drawn away to other national leagues by the lure of filthy lucre, and that it's the clubs who will have to foot the bill if they really want to keep their big stars.

Hollande insists that there will be no place for football-style pay inflation in his France.

But Frank Hollande is a reasonable man. He accepts that the playing career of the top footballer is a short one, and is prepared to discuss some kind of spread of tax payments, over ten years, for example. Between 120 and 150 players are likely to be affected.

The Socialist candidiate is a football fan. He points out that, last Sunday, in the French Championship, two of the biggest names, Olympic Lyon and Marseille, both coming down with guys worrying about the tax returns, had the stuffing knocked out of them by more modest outfits.

He wisely didn't mention our local club, Paris Saint Germain, with eleven millionaires in the line-up, who hammered Ajaccio 4-1.

Paris pays its coach, Carlo Ancelotti, six million euros per year. Hollande thinks that's rather a lot, even for Ancelotti. "Clubs can pay what they like," says the Socialist contender, "that's the way the market works." But it's up to the government to decide who pays what in taxes.

The president of the Professional Football League says the proposals mean French football is dead.

Long live French football!