Ligue de Football Professionnel

Country	France
Confederation	UEFA
Divisions	Ligue 1 Ligue 2 Ligue 3 (starting 2026)
Number of clubs	36
Level on pyramid	1–2
Relegation to	Championnat National
Domestic cup	Coupe de la Ligue (folded)
Current champions	Ligue 1:Paris Saint-Germain Ligue 2:FC Lorient (2024–25)
Broadcaster(s)	DAZN[1] beIN Sports[2]
Website	www.lfp.fr
Current:2025–26 Ligue 1 2025–26 Ligue 2

TheLigue de Football Professionnel (French pronunciation:[liɡdəfutbolpʁɔfɛsjɔnɛl],Professional Football League), commonly known as theLFP, is a Frenchgoverning body that runs the majorprofessionalfootball leagues in France and Monaco.^[3] It was founded in 1944 and serves under the authority of theFrench Football Federation. The current president of the league is Vincent Labrune. It is headquartered inParis.^[4]

The league is responsible for overseeing, organizing, and managing the top two leagues in France,Ligue 1 andLigue 2 and is also responsible for the 36 professional football clubs that contest football in France (both 18 in Ligue 1 and Ligue 2).

The history of the Ligue de Football Professionnel dates back before World War II when the committee's primary motive was to ensure clubs in France pay players their wages. The chairman of the early predecessor of the league wasEmmanuel Gambardella. Another committee, which monitored professional clubs and the status of professional players also existed during this time and was headed byGabriel Hanot, who was later responsible for the creation of theEuropean Cup, now theUEFA Champions League. During theVichy regime,professionalism in France was abolished, which led to clubs forming unpopular regional amateur leagues. Under the current LFP hierarchy, the years 1939–1945 are non-existent.

Following the conclusion of the war, many clubs were hesitant to follow the initiatives of the French Football Federation due to their belief that the federation were not thinking in their best interests and, instead, opted to join an initiative by Gambardella referred theGroupement des clubs autorisés. On 27 October 1944, the Ligue Nationale de Football (National Football League) was officially founded with Gambardella being installed as the organization's first president. The league changed its name back toGroupement des clubs autorisés shortly after and kept the name until 1970 before returning to Ligue Nationale de Football. In 2002, the league changed its name to the Ligue de Football Professionnel.^[5]

The Ligue de Football Professionnel describes itself through itsmission statement. The LFP must:

• Organize, manage, and regulate all the aspects of professional football in France.
• Finance all operations or any actions that are likely to develop the resources of professional football in France.
• Apply the sanctions imposed by its authority organizations vis-à-vis members of sports clubs and its licenses and any other person bounded by these articles.
• To defend the moral and material interests ofFrench football in France.

The 36 member clubs of the LFP are grouped into two divisions:Ligue 1 andLigue 2 (18 clubs, respectively). The LFP also oversee the professional clubs that suffer relegation to third-tierChampionnat National. Currently, there are six clubs playing in the third division that the league manages. In any given season a club plays each of the others in the same division twice, once at their home stadium and once at that of their opponents, though special circumstances may allow a club to host matches at other venues such as whenLille hostedLyon at theStade de France in 2007 and 2008. This makes for a total of 34 games played each season in both leagues.

Clubs gain three points for a win, one for a draw, and none for a defeat. At the end of each season, the club with the most points in Ligue 1 is crowned champion of France. Teams are ranked by total points, thengoal difference, and then goals scored. If points are equal, the goal difference and then goals scored determine the winner. If still equal, teams are deemed to occupy the same position. If there is a tie for the championship, for relegation, or for qualification to other competitions, a play-off match at a neutral venue decides rank. The three lowest placed teams are relegated toLigue 2 and the top three teams from Ligue 2 are promoted in their place.

The LFP also organized a cup competition, theCoupe de la Ligue. Before its foundation as an official league cup in 1994, the competition was a summer friendly tournament. Unlike theCoupe de France which allows all clubs, regardless of status, to enter, the Coupe de la Ligue only allowed professional clubs to participate. The competition was consideredsecond-rate compared to the Coupe de France and attracted much criticism from many who deem the cup as having less prestige and creating fixture congestion.^[6]

The DNCG is the organisation responsible for monitoring the accounts of professionalassociation football clubs in France.^[7] It was founded in 1984 and is an administrative directorate of the LFP. The current president of the DNCG is Richard Olivier.^[8] Along with the LFP, the DNCG has a public mission of service. The mission of the DNCG is to oversee all financial operations of the 40 member clubs of the LFP (as well as those clubs recently relegated to theChampionnat National), develop the resources of professional clubs, apply sanctions to those clubs breaking the rules of operation and to defend the morals and interests of French football in general.^[7]

Since the LFP's foundation, there have been a total of nine presidents who have served. The first president of the league was Emmanuel Gambardella who ran the organization from 1944 to 1953. His positive influence onFrench football led to theFrench Football Federation naming the country's prestigiousunder-19 youth cup tournament after him. The current president isVincent Labrune [lt], who was elected in 2020 and reelected in 2024.^[9]

Presidents in italics served in an interim role.

• Official LFP site(in French)
• Official LFP site(in English)

• Ligue de Football Professionnel
• Football governing bodies in France
• 1944 establishments in France
• Sports organizations established in 1944

• CS1 French-language sources (fr)
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use dmy dates from September 2020
• Articles containing French-language text
• Pages with French IPA
• Articles with French-language sources (fr)