Investigators are searching the offices of the French football league and private equity firm CVC as part of corruption probe

French investigators raided the offices of the French football league and private equity firm CVC Capital Partners on Tuesday as part of an investigation into possible corruption and embezzlement related to an investment deal, a judicial official said.

The searches took place during an investigation that began in July on charges of misuse of public funds, active and passive corruption of a public official and illegal interest charging, a judicial official told The Associated Press.

The person with direct knowledge of the matter spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to publicly discuss ongoing litigation.

The French football league, under current president Vincent Labrune, has approved an investment deal with CVC as part of a new commercial subsidiary responsible for marketing media rights in 2022. CVC invested 1.5 billion euros ($1.6 billion) in exchange for a 13% stake in the new commercial subsidiary that manages TV rights, with the entire capital of the commercial subsidiary valued at 11.5 billion euros.

The CVC deal was signed after French football was on the verge of bankruptcy following the collapse of a major broadcasting rights deal with Mediapro.

The investigation began in November 2023 when the French National Financial Prosecutor’s Office opened AC! It was started after receiving a complaint from a group called. Fight against corruption. Their case focused on the possible misuse of public funds when the subsidiary of the French league was established following the partial transfer of capital to CVC.

While the deal with Mediapro was supposed to be worth more than 4 billion euros ($4.8 billion) over four years for the first two tiers, it collapsed after just four months. Following its collapse, the league was forced to ask the government to draw up a financial rescue plan amid massive revenue losses made worse by the coronavirus pandemic.

French league president Vincent Labrune, seeking a cash injection to help clubs, found a deal with CVC Capital Partners.

The deal was supported by the majority of clubs, but was opposed by Le Havre, who filed a lawsuit against the French League because they were unhappy with the distribution of the money.

At the time, 20 clubs were playing in the elite league (the current number is 18) and more than €1.1 billion was to be shared between professional clubs in the top two leagues. The largest share of this amount was given to Paris Saint-Germain, with 200 million euros to be paid in three installments. While Marseille and Lyon were entitled to receive 90 million euros each, 80 million euros each went to Lille, Monaco, Nice and Rennes.

The remaining 13 Ligue 1 clubs were given 33 million euros each.

Ligue 2 teams will be awarded 3 million euros each for the 2021-2022, 2022-2023 and 2024-2025 seasons, provided that they remain in the second tier of French football. This was not the case for Le Havre, who was promoted to the elite class at the end of the 2023 season and therefore missed out on half of the amount he deserved and received only 1.5 million euros. And the club, which is back at the top, said that since it is not among the elite teams in the 2021-2022 season, it does not qualify for half of the 33 million euro allocation allocated to the so-called small Ligue 1 clubs.