Paris Saint-Germain president Nasser Al-Khelaifi is set to join the Ligue de Football Professionnel's (LFP) highest body in a bid to boost Ligue 1's image abroad.
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Al Khelaifi and Toulouse counterpart Olivier Sadran will be presented as candidates to the LFP's Administrative Council on Friday after being selected to represent the UCPF -- the professional clubs' union -- on the panel.
The Qatari, who will become the first foreign member of the council, had initially sought to join it in 2012 only to withdraw his candidacy. However, he was pushed to continue this year due to the insistence of the presidents of other Ligue 1 clubs.
"Nasser is a courteous, very competent man," Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas told Le Parisien. "He represents the shareholder of the biggest French club, and perhaps the biggest European club of tomorrow. He has to be in the LFP. We can't govern Ligue 1 without Paris now."
With his international reputation and reach, Al-Khelaifi's brief will be to promote French football and the LFP around the world.
"Nasser accepted because he wants to do his utmost for French football," an unnamed source is reported as saying. "The current situation, with the threat of having just one direct qualifying place for the Champions League following the fall [of France] in the UEFA ranking, worries him. He wants his club to play in a competitive Ligue 1."
Having slipped to sixth in the end-of-season UEFA rankings, and in danger of dropping to seventh behind Russia at the end of the current campaign, France runs the risk of seeing its Champions League allocation reduced from three to two places, with only the Ligue 1 champions automatically qualifying for the group stage.