French investigators raided the offices of the French soccer 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 came amid an investigation opened in July into allegations of embezzlement of public funds, active and passive corruption of a public official and illegal taking of interests, the judicial official told The Associated Press.

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

Under its current president Vincent Labrunethe French football league approved an investment agreement with CVC in 2022 as part of a new commercial subsidiary responsible for media marketing rights. CVC invested 1.5 billion euros ($1.6 billion) in exchange for a 13 percent stake in the new commercial subsidiary that manages TV rights, valuing the entire capital of the commercial subsidiary at 11.5 billion euros.

The CVC deal was sealed after French football arrived close to bankruptcy following the collapse of a major broadcasting rights deal with Mediapro.

The investigation was launched after the National Financial Prosecutor in France received in November 2023 a complaint from a group called AC! Anti-corruption. Their trial focused on a possible misappropriation of public funds when the subsidiary company of the French league was created following the partial transfer of capital to CVC.

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, but collapsed after just four months. After its collapse, the league was forced to ask the government to set up a financial rescue plan amid huge revenue losses exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic.

Looking for an injection of cash to help clubs, French league president Vincent Labrune struck a deal with CVC Capital Partners.

The deal was supported by a large majority of clubs, but was contested by Le Havre, who launched a lawsuit against the French league because they were unhappy with the distribution of the money.

Twenty clubs played in the top flight then – compared to 18 now – with more than €1.1 billion to be shared between professional clubs in the top two divisions. Of this amount, Paris Saint-Germain received the largest share, 200 million euros to be paid in three installments. Marseille and Lyon were entitled to €90m each, with €80m going to Lille, Monaco, Nice and Rennes.

The other 13 clubs in Ligue 1 received 33 million euros each.

Ligue 2 teams received €3 million each, provided they remain in the second tier of French football for the 2021-2022, 2022-2023 and 2024-2025 seasons. This was not the case with Le Havre, who were promoted to the elite at the end of the 2023 season and thus missed out on half of the amount they were entitled to, receiving only €1.5 million. And once back in the top flight, the club said it was not entitled to half of the €33m allocation allocated to so-called small Ligue 1 clubs because it was not in the top flight in the 2021-22 season.

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