11:00 p.m.
, May 30, 2020
For fourteen years, the Toulon Racing Club was him. Mourad Boudjellal, a child of the city, embodied this hot bastion of Ovalie, which he carried from the second division to the Shield of Brennus (2014) and on the roof of Europe (2013, 2014, 2015) . “We won too quickly, he believes today. It was extraordinary and it became commonplace.” So, on February 11, the former comic book publisher dropped the club to Bernard Lemaître, a shareholder since the summer of 2018 and became owner at the cost of a third recapitalization. “I could not keep up, concedes Boudjellal. Resources were decreasing and the craze too. I did not want to jeopardize my family heritage.”
Read also – Fined, Mourad Boudjellal charges the National Rugby League
By buying the 25% of his shares, the new president saved a club he had found “in default”. “In less than two years, I have injected 25million euros,” he reveals.
The secret departure from Boudjellal
This businessman, passionate about rugby, made his fortune in the biotechnology industry before creating his holding company in 2007, Financière de la Seigneurie. “I came to the RCT to lend a hand, he rewinds. I offered to bring 3million euros to help build the new training center. I was asked 1 million more because it had to end the month. And I went from bad surprise to bad surprise. Since 2015, turnover has dropped from 35million to 23 as charges continue to increase. ” But he doesn’t regret anything, he says.
Thanks to him, the RCT should, this season again, pass the cut of the National Directorate of Aid and Management Control (DNACG). The French rugby financial gendarme assesses the deficit of the Rouge et Noir at 11 million euros for the 2019-2020 fiscal year. “It will be smaller, promises Lemaître. At the end of June, the club’s cash position will be slightly positive. It has the means to hold on.” The final budget must be sent to the DNACG no later than June 6. “We have built a strategic project over five years to keep the RCT in the top6 of French and European teams,” reassures the president.
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What I blame Bernard Lemaître for is pretending to be a crook
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Before the health crisis, Toulon had a successful season. Behind the scenes, she turns out to be more upset. Boudjellal, first, left on the sly. “He wished not to go until June and I thought it was a good idea,” said Lemaître. “He felt that I didn’t have to say goodbye to Mayol,” replied Boudjellal. “As I am well brought up, I will have to go back.” Atmosphere.
“I want us to put the institution back in the center, where there was only one person at the club, resumes Lemaître. The leaders and the players pass, the club remains.” Boudjellal: “What I blame him for is pretending to be a crook. He accuses me of having increased the deficits. I did it because he asked me and told me that he would assume in current accounts. I was caught in a trap. He taps on my image to exist. “
“Extremely serious and shocking litigation”?
This pass of arms actually masks disputes relating to the sale of the club. The first of these could have had serious consequences for the RCT. On March 10, the DNACG punished him with a fine of 40,000 euros, half of which was suspended, and a potential recruitment ban. The reason ? The club allegedly refused to provide him with the accounts of the company Rouge et Noir Image (RNI), belonging to Boudjellal. However, Toulon had no legal means to force its former president to do so. “I have nothing more to do with the DNACG, argues the latter. It is a private company and it does not have to know how it works.”
Founded in 2007, RNI has long been used to pay players for image rights and to collect payments from club partners, which it then invoiced. After Lemaître’s arrival at the presidency, certain partners continued to feed him. So much cash which, according to internal sources, would have escaped the RCT, which Boudjellal denies: “A check of around 32,000 euros is deposited in the Carpa account of Me Aizac [par ailleurs administrateur du RCT]. It will be returned to the club when the guarantees related to its transfer are lifted. “
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I always try to resolve problems amicably but I do not exclude legal action [contre Boudjellal]
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Friday, the FFR appeal committee, which the club had seized, completely cleared the sanctions imposed by the DNACG. But the grievances remain. “We have other disputes, extremely serious and shocking,” regrets Lemaître without spilling out.
Would they justify legal action? “I always try to solve problems amicably but I don’t exclude anything,” he eludes. And to conclude, regarding the redemption of the shares of his predecessor: “The two parties declared themselves satisfied by the execution of this agreement which they signed. I left feathers there but I wanted to be free of a management freed from its old practices. Since then, everything has been denied, debated, challenged. “
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