French football faces being plunged into crisis following the revelation that their biggest broadcasting partner could be forced to shut down imminently.
According to Get French Football News, staff were briefed on Tuesday evening that the company, which was only created four months ago, could close with immediate effect.
One employee present at the announcement told L'Equipe: 'We were told that this possibility existed and that it was not possible to hide it.'
Telefoot Chaine are the primary rights holders for Ligue 1 and League 2, after securing a £2.5billion deal over four years to show the pick of matches from the top two leagues in the country.
That deal is now under serious threat, with the broadcaster's parent company Mediapro refusing to make payments due to the Ligue de Football Professionnel for two months already this season.
The immediacy of the problem means their is skepticism over the channel's ability to cover Paris Saint-Germain's clash with Lyon on Sunday night - one of the biggest clashes in the French calendar.
The LFP is currently limping from month to month with the help of government loans and grants, but the collapse of their biggest rights deal could bring the governing body to its knees.
One club owner in Ligue 1 has already expressed his fear that his side will be forced to fold if there is no money by February.
Reims President Jean-Pierre Caillot told Le Parisien last week: 'If the league cannot get a new loan, which is far from assured at this point, I think that in February or March, there will be a lot of clubs who will not be able to pay their players and employees.
'Because we often forget that a football club is not just 11 players.”
