Bank of Mourad saves Toulon from Top 14's financial police
Yes, the Top 14 is a big-money business, but dark clerks of the FFR and LNR ensure clubs do not play fast and loose with the financial rules, writes James Harrington
If ever you needed proof that French rugby’s Top 14 was a high-stakes game for high rollers with money to burn, recent news has delivered it.
Last week, the new billionaire owner of Stade Francais, Germany’s Hans-Peter Wild, revealed he was willing to invest €30million of his own money over the next three seasons to right the struggling Stade ship.
The 75-year-old Capri-Sun king joked: “At my age, I’ve earned the right to have some fun.” But he also said that he wanted his investment to become one of the top three clubs in Europe.
And then, on Sunday, it was revealed that Toulon – that rabble-rousing red-and-black symbol of conspicuous Top 14 consumption – were days away from being busted down to the second-tier ProD2 by the dismal-sounding Direction Nationale d’Aide et de Contrôle de Gestion (DNACG), who had discovered a €2million hole in their finances.
Reports said €1.7million of that hole was a payment owed to sportswear manufacturer Puma, following a court ruling after the club ended a contract early in 2011.
In truth, the threat of relegation was snuffed out almost as soon as it began. On Tuesday, the day before the players were due to return for the first day of pre-season training and two months before the new season kicks off on August 19, the club’s millionaire president Mourad Boudjellal plugged the hole in return for a noticeably increased stake in the club. He now owes 93% of the shares, as opposed to the 51% he owned on Sunday.
Un accord entre l'Association et la SASP du RCT a été trouvé ce mardi. Le @RCTofficiel évoluera bien en TOP 14 ! https://t.co/gFFntPVpxx
— RCT – RC Toulon (@RCTofficiel) June 20, 2017
It proves that no-one, not even the comicbook enfant terrible of French rugby, makes the mistake of not taking the DNACG seriously.
It is the second time in a year that the club has been up before the DNACG beak. In August 2016, they were fined €100,000 for breaching the salary cap.
But who are they, these dark clerks of the DNACG?
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They are the financial gendarmes of the professional game in France, the thin red-tape line that keeps the financial peace in French rugby. It’s their job to ensure the 30 clubs of the Top 14 and ProD2 stay on the financial straight and narrow and do not break the salary cap.
They are funded by the FFR and the LNR, but independent and report only to the union.
Contrary to many opinions, understandable given frequent raids on southern hemisphere playing talent, these forensic accounting detectives wield serious power in France. No club takes the DNACG lightly.
And no club is sacrosanct. Earlier this year, they had their eyes firmly on Toulouse. Until changes at the top and a new source of revenue was enough to satisfy them that the club had stepped back from a financial precipice.
They can scrutinise the accounts of any professional club in France at any time, and punish miscreants with fines of up to €2million. They can – and have – busted clubs down several leagues. They can – and have – suspended player contracts while they made sure the clubs in question had the funds to pay them.
Ask Grenoble. In 2005, a season after they were relegated from the French top flight, Grenoble were ordered out of the professional leagues altogether after an audit of the club’s books revealed debts of €3.64million.
Ask Montauban. The Tarn-et-Garonne club finished the 2010 Top 14 season in 12th place – out of the relegation zone – but were busted down to the ProD2 after they were found to have breached budget rules. The club later filed for bankruptcy and returned to the amateur leagues. In 2014, Montauban returned to the ProD2 ranks.
Ask Bourgoin, Dax, Albi, Beziers, Carcassonne, Perpignan – all big French rugby names, all of whom have risked the wrath of the DNACG in recent seasons. Bourgoin, in fact, could be in trouble again. Federale 3 – the fifth, determinedly amateur, tier of French rugby – beckons if the 1997 European Challenge Cup winners cannot find the finances to keep going.
Before each season, clubs must present their provisional budgets – including TV rights income, sponsorship, ticket sales, regional cash etc. If there is a later discrepancy – say, not all the expected sponsorship money comes through, then the DNACG’s dark clerks take an interest. They will want to know how and why the club will fill the hole. Any club that cannot provide acceptable answers will face sanctions. No matter who they are
And, make no mistake, that €10million salary cap is enforced. That is not to say that clubs cannot be inventive with bonuses and image rights to boost players’ incomes: a sizeable portion of Dan Carter’s Racing 92 pay cheque comes in the form of image rights, for example, while Toulon have made determined and successful use of bonuses for years.
So, yes, there are ways and means to sidestep some of the rules some of time. But woe-betide any club that doesn’t keep its books in order. As Toulon very nearly found out this week.
Comments on RugbyPass
This team does not beat the ABs sadly
11 Go to commentsCompletely agree. More friday night games would be a hit. RFU to make sure every club has a floodlit pitch. Club opens again Saturday to welcome touch / tag. Minis and youths on Sunday
3 Go to comments1.97m and 105Kg? Proportionately, probably skinnier than me at 1.82 and 82kilos. He won’t survive against the big guys at that weight.
55 Go to commentsThe value he brought to the crusaders as an assistant was equal to what he got out of being there. He reflected not only on the team culture but also the credit he attributed to the rugby community. Such experience shouldn’t be overlooked.
3 Go to commentsGood luck Aussie
11 Go to commentssmith at 9 / mounga 10 / laumape 12 / fainganuku 14
54 Go to commentsBar the injuries, it’s pretty much their top team …
2 Go to commentsDon’t disagree with much of this but it appears you forgot Rodda and Beale, who started at the Force on the weekend.
11 Go to commentsExcept for the injured Zach Gallagher this would be Saders best forward pack for the season. Blackadder needs to stay at 7, for all of Christies tackling he is not dominant and offers very little else. McNicholfullback is maybe a good option, Fihaki not really upto it, there was a reason Burke played there last year. Maybe Havilli to 2nd five McLeod to wing. Need a strong winger on 1 side to compliment Reece
1 Go to commentsTo me TJ is clearly the best 9 in the competition right now but he's also a proven player off the bench, there's few playmaking players who can come off the bench as calm and settled as he is, Beauden can, TJ can and I doubt any of the scrumhalves in contention can, if they want to experiment with new 9s I want him on the bench ready to step in if they crumble under the pressure. The Boks put their best front row on the bench, I'd like to see us take a similar approach, the Hurricanes have been doing similar things with players like Kirifi.
54 Go to commentsROG has better chance to win a WC if he starts training and make himself eligible as a player. He won’t make the Ireland squad but I reckon he may get close with Namibia (needs to improve his Afrikaans) or Portugal. Both sides had 1000:1 odds to win the RWC in 2023 which is an improvement on ROG’s odds of winning a RWC as a coach. Unlike Top 14 teams, national teams can’t go shopping and buy the best players - you work with the available talent pool and turn them into world beaters.
3 Go to commentsthat backline nope that backline is terrible why would you have sevu Reece when he’s not even top 5 wingers in the comp why have Blackadder when there’s better players no Scott barret isn’t an automatic the guy is more of a liability than anything why have him there when you have samipeni who’s far far better
54 Go to commentsAh, good to find you Nick. Agree with everything about Cale. So much to like about his game
55 Go to commentsNot too bad. Questions at 6, lock and HB for me. The ABs will be a lot stronger once Jordan and Roigard return. Also, work needs to be made to secure Frizzell back for next season and maybe also Mo’unga; they’re just wasting time playing in japan
54 Go to commentsOn the title, i wonder for many of those people it is a case something like a belief in working smarter, not harder?
1 Go to commentsForget Sotutu. One of those whose top level is Super Rugby. Id take a punt on Wallace Sititi Finau ahead of Glass body Blackadder.
54 Go to commentsI’m a pensioner so I've been around a bit. My opinion of SBW is he is an elite athlete and a great New Zealander and roll model. He has been to the top and knows what he's talking about. To all the negative comments regarding SBW the typical New Zealand way, cut that tall poppy down.
17 Go to commentsI'm not listening to a guy moralise over others when this is the guy who walked out mid season on Canterbury RLFC when he had a contract with them, what a hypocrite. All the Kiwis sticking up for this unprincipled individual because they can't accept justified criticism, he has zero credibility or integrity. Those praising him are a joke.
17 Go to commentsI’d put Finau at 6 instead of Blackadder but that’s the only change I’d make. Can’t wait to see who Razor picks.
54 Go to commentsTamati Williams, Codie Taylor, and Same Cane? Not sure about Hoskins Sotutu at test level. Wasn’t that impressive last season. Need a balance between experience and talent/youth.
54 Go to comments