Delphine Ernotte, the president of France Télévisions, is very upset against the organizers of the Roland-Garros tournament and its director Amélie Mauresmo, yet a former consultant for the public audiovisual group. The choice to offer the quarter-final of the two legends between Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal to Amazon Prime, therefore at night, rather than to France TV during the day does not pass.
In an interview with Le Figaro, the leader does not mince her words: “This decision of the French Tennis Federation shocks me deeply, she regrets. It is a very bad blow to our partnership, as we have been participating for years in exposing and popularizing the tournament with all French people”.
“I find it shocking to favor an American actor at the expense of public service”
Very uplifted, she adds: “I find it extremely shocking to favor an American player like Amazon to the detriment of public service, especially on an event financed in whole or in part by public money. The reverse would be totally unimaginable in the United States. »
In a funny pass number that does not only make people happy, Prime Video offers the match for free, with no subscription necessary for the match to be accessible to as many people as possible. For Delphine Ernotte, it’s a masquerade: “Free distribution by Amazon is a decoy: it only serves to generate subscriptions and data. And it’s a real breach of equality when not all French people have access to high-speed Internet, she further explained. This event once again raises the question of the privatization of sport to the detriment of those who cannot afford it. There is an urgent need to protect free access to major events, especially for events financed with public money. The tournament management did not react to this outburst. Amélie Mauresmo, the director of Roland-Garros, will undoubtedly do so this Wednesday, June 1 on the occasion of her long-planned press briefing for the fortnight and postponed for 48 hours before she announces her choice of Prime. Video.