The upshot of their latest round of hearings and judgements has resulted in three clubs being relegated and two more being put on financial warning. Montauban, Bourgoin and Marseilles are the unfortunate the trio of clubs now contemplating beginning the 2010/11 season at least one division lower than they finished in 2009/10, while Tarbes and SCA Albi are facing a recruitment ban until they can satisfy the DNACG of their financial viability.

In the case of Montauban they at least now know which division they will play in after the FFR confirmed they will begin the new season in Federale 1. That is a drop of two divisions for the former Top 14 side which was initially relegated to ProD2 after filing for bankruptcy at the end of last season – having avoided relegation on playing results alone due to a last-day home win against Bayonne. Still with me?

When Montauban was subsequently liquidated that the relegation was further extended, with league rules suggesting they could fall as far as Federale 3 – the lowest tier of French club rugby.

Ultimately, however, the LNR and FFR have decided that a two-division fall was punishment enough and the remnants of a club that was playing Heineken Cup rugby as recently as 2009 will now begin the long haul back to professional rugby by trying to win promotion from Federale 1 next season. To that end the town’s council has agreed a one-off grant of €400,000 to help Montauban’s cause, cash that will be readily welcomed after seeing all but four of its squad leave for pastures new. Scottish international Andre Henderson is one of the quartet of players to stay put – along with Rowan Frost, Julien Larroque and Felix Le Bourhis – meaning Montauban will have to rely on its emerging youngsters and a dozen recruits from Federale clubs. They will now hope to emulate Grenoble, who won promotion back to ProD2 at the first attempt in 2005/06 after also being relegated to Federale 1.

The knock-on effect of their dramatic drop is that Bayonne remained in Top 14 and Aix-en-Provence also avoided relegation from ProD2. All clear?

The case for Bourgoin is equally complex. The Isere club managed to avoid automatic relegation from Top 14 last season after finishing 11^th, but now the beady eye of the DNACG has thrown their future status into confusion because it has not received sufficient evidence of their financial plans for 2010/11. Specifically, it claims the club has not banked €900,000 required to cover its budget reserve fund.

Thus, on the same day as the LNR unveiled the 2010/11 fixture list – complete with Bourgoin in Top 14 – the DNACG announced that Bourgoin had also been relegated to Federale 1.

However, unlike Montauban, Bourgoin immediately announced they will appeal the decision and insiders at the LNR claim that appeal – to be heard next week - will be successful as Bourgoin does now have the reserve fund in its bank. Bourgoin, lest it be forgotten, have history in this matter and indeed began last season with 14 players’ licences blocked due to a budget shortfall.

It would appear the DNACG – which has been in regular contact with the club’s board over the past month – had become tired of waiting to see Bourgoin’s full accounts, thus prompting Thursday’s decision.

A club statement said the DNACG’s announcement was merely an “application of a procedural rule” and that Bourgoin was confident of remaining in Top 14 next season.

“We have had confirmation on Wednesday evening of our presence in Top 14,” said president Gaston Maulin. “We will now return to peaceful and legal proceedings with the LNR,” he added.

The DNACG, however, is sticking by its decision, despite the confidence of both Bourgoin and the LNR that this matter will be resolved imminently, and thus Albi – relegated as the 14^th placed club in Top 14 last season – has also been put on notice that it could be back in the elite should Bourgoin not win its appeal. It’s getting complicated!

Albi, not surprisingly, have said they fully respect the DNACG’s decision and are ready to step back up to Top 14 should Bourgoin lose their appeal.

“I am delighted that the DNACG has done an excellent job with all clubs,” said Albi president Bernard Archilla. “We follow closely the issue of Bourgoin and we are ready sportingly and economically when the decision is made,” he said.

This, of course, is the same Albi team which was relegated from Top 14 by the DNACG at the end of 2007/8 due to a budget shortfall.

However… Albi themselves are also being investigated by the DNACG and would have to fulfil the organisation’s strict financial criteria to go back up, should Bourgoin indeed be relegated. Hmmm.

Bourgoin, for their part, claim they now have the €900,000 required to cover their reserve fund and feel the DNACG should look favourably upon their appeal after turning around a €3.8m deficit to a €100,000 surplus over the previous 12 months.

Albi, meanwhile, have been told they must demonstrate their financial viability to the DNACG later this month or risk having player licences blocked at the beginning of the season. In effect, they must raise €600,000 before the season begins.

“We acknowledge the request,” said club president Archilla. “The board of directors has been working for months to rebuild the club in order to ensure its sustainability over the long term. It is within this framework that we strive to complete our budget for the 2010/11 season, which should be around €6.5m. We have been careful in our recruitment of players and we are continuing our efforts with public and private partners to complete our budget as soon as possible. The aim is that the players and coaching staff can work in peace,” he added.

Tarbes, however, appear less confident in their own finances although they only have to find €180,000 to fulfil their reserve fund. President Jean-Pierre Davant has threatened to resign after the DNACG’s latest missive banning further player recruitment until that money has been guaranteed.

Marseilles-Vitrolles have been relegated from Federale 1 to Federale 2 due to financial problems. Marseilles, who infamously signed former All Black international Jonah Lomu last season – have confirmed they will appeal the DNACG’s decision.