What if France hosted the 2038 World Cup [Le Parisien]
Le Parisien asked me this week about a question that deserves better than a shrug: what if France hosted the 2038 World Cup? (link to the article, in French) I am wary of reflex bids — the ones launched for the pleasure of being a candidate. But I am just as wary of renunciation on […]
Professional sport reform: the joint committee fixed the text, not Parliament’s view of sport
A unanimous CMP produced a better text: control instead of bans, coherence on betting and broadcasting. One regret remains — the pay cap and what it reveals.
Professional sport reform: what the National Assembly passed — and what the joint committee will have to settle
Adopted at first reading on 29 June, the bill heads to the joint committee: multi-club ownership ban, pay cap, whistle-to-whistle — what stands and what should fall.
The amendments tabled on the professional sport bill
More than 350 amendments on the French professional sport bill: broadcasting rights, club-owned company, multi-club ownership, betting — the knots ahead of the public sitting.
Professional Sport: Let Everything Change, So the Game Endures
Sideline’s expert read on the bill governing the organisation, management and financing of professional sport, now before the National Assembly.
Colloquium — Twenty Years On from the French Sports Code: What Relationship Between Sport and the Law?
On 17 June 2026, the CNOSF — together with the Conseil d’État, the Cour de cassation and the CDES — held a colloquium marking twenty years of the French Sports Code. In his address, Cyril Mourin draws on his years at the Ministry of Sports and the Élysée to describe how sports law is really made — largely within the executive, at Matignon — and sets out five recurring weaknesses, from “orphan laws” that are passed but never applied to legislation reached for as a reflex. His conclusion: sports law should once again be a means, not an end — rarer, better written and, above all, applicable.
Cyril Mourin in “Mbappé, la diplomatie du ballon rond” on France 5
Cyril Mourin took part in “Mbappé, la diplomatie du ballon rond”, a documentary broadcast on France 5 on 8 June 2026, speaking as a former sports adviser to the President of the Republic on football as an instrument of French influence.
Introducing Our Parliamentary and Institutional Monitoring Tool
Sideline is making a parliamentary and institutional monitoring tool on sport openly and freely available: the National Assembly, the Senate, the Official Journal, reports, agendas — all in one place.
Interview | Sport Stratégies – May 2026
Interview with Cyril Mourin, founder of Sideline Conseil and former sports adviser at the Élysée, for Sport Stratégies (no. 864): the strategic state, the legacy of Paris 2024, influence, the ecological transition and the opportunities AI holds for sport.
Sport Business Club — “From the Élysée to Consulting: Cyril Mourin Launches Sideline”
Sport Business Club (12 April 2026) looks back at Cyril Mourin’s launch of Sideline Conseil: public affairs applied to sport, a niche still largely uncharted in France.