Top 14: Financial crisis deepens at
Stade Francais after Max Guazzini files for fraud
22 June 2011
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Uncertain future: Stade Francais
Photo: Eoin Mundow/Cleva Media |
Once
mighty Stade Francais are facing up to the very real
prospect of beginning next season in ProD2 - or worse -
after the latest twist in their ongoing financial drama.
The
13-time French champions appeared saved from that
possibility when FACEM - a previously unheard of Canadian
company - appeared to come to their rescue with a
€12m
investment on June 6th
which would have given them a 66% stake in the Paris club.
But that deal has now been thrown into turmoil amid
allegations of fraud from current Stade Francais president
Max Guazzini.
The
flamboyant Stade owner had wanted to downscale his own
investment in the club after more than a decade of dipping
into his own pocket, but the deal bringing in the Canadian
investors - which was brokered by Bernard Laporte - now
appears to have collapsed in spectacular style.
Guazzini
claims that "documents and guarantees provided by FACEM in
the name of a major international bank are falsified", and
has subsequently called the French fraud squad to
investigate.
FACEM's
president Job Ariste, a Haitian-born Montreal businessman,
claims there has been no wrong-doing and that all proper
documentation (and cash) will be forthcoming once his own
organisation has completed its own due diligence.
"We were
only give two weeks to wrap up everything," he told Canadian
media. "You have to understand that a deal of that scope
can't be done in such a short time. We already provided
financial guarantees. I don't know why people are panicking
over nothing," said Mr Ariste.
"Once
everything is clear and we have a full grasp of the
situation and know where we're putting our feet, at that
time the funds will be transferred and they can have their
funds," he added.
FACEM is
a private foundation claiming to carry out humanitarian work
for underprivileged children around the world, but as it is
not a registered charity it doesn't have to open its books
and Ariste has consistently refused to identify where the
money for its Stade investment has come from.
Ariste,
who is an elder and secular deacon in the Seventh Day
Adventist Church, merely claims that FACEM does business
around the world and was hoping that any profits from its
investment in Stade would be used to held fund further
projects.
FACEM
was originally approached by Laporte as he sought financial
investors to rescue Stade's parlous situation, but French
newspaper L'Equipe reported that the relationship is
more than advisory. According to L'Equipe FACEM has a
51% stake in a corporation which was only created last month
by Laporte.
The
upshot of Guazzini filing for fraud means that Stade are now
once more in the firing line of the DNACG - the French
league's financial watchdog - as they are
€5m in
debt for the season which has just finished. Under normal
circumstances that would almost certainly mean relegation to
ProD2, although Montauban's example of two seasons ago could
yet see them slip all the way down to Fédérale 1.
That
prospect has clearly set alarm bells ringing in the French
capital and the race is now on to try and find new investors
before the club once more goes before the DNACG next Monday
(June 27th).
Following
news of the collapsed deal there have been plenty of calls
of support for Guazzini, who is seen as something of a
visionary within the sport for his exceptional marketing of
Stade Francais in the modern professional era. Vocal support
for Laporte, however, has been conspicuous by its absence,
although the former coach has also filed for fraud against
FACEM.
Laporte
help guide Stade from third division obscurity to five
French titles in a decade, before going on to take over as
France coach. After helping them to successive World Cup
semi-finals - in 2003 and 2007 - he then moved into politics
as a junior sports minister for Nicolas Sarkozy.
Last season
he appeared set for a return to rugby when he was briefly
engaged at Bayonne, before a clash of personalities with
then president Francis Salagoity - amid claims of broken
promises - led him to a highly publicized walk out.
He then
re-emerged at Stade Francais at the tail end of the 2010/11
season, appearing to be their new strong man as he first
heralded the Canadian investment and then stood firm in the
face of Mathieu Bastareaud's stated desire to leave for
Toulon.
Laporte's
image has now been damaged by both of those incidents, with
the FACEM deal appearing to collapse in ignominy, while
Bastareaud has since rubbished Laporte's claims that he
wished to remain a Stade Francais player.
It all adds
up to a mighty mess for Stade Francais, who have been
underperforming both on and off the field for the past two
years. In 2009/10 they missed out on the league play-offs
and Heineken Cup qualification after finishing ninth in Top
14, and in 2010/11 they ended two places lower.
Top 14 League Table 2010/11
Hope of a
backdoor entrance to the Heineken Cup was then dashed when
they narrowly lost the Amlin Challenge Cup final to
Harlequins, and the club has since shed some of its biggest
stars as it attempted to cut its wage costs. James Haskell,
Juan Manuel Leguizamon and Mauro Bergamasco were among a
host of players allowed or told to leave at the end of the
season, with their replacements largely consisting of ageing
internationals such as Paul Sackey, Byron Kelleher and
Felipe Contepomi.
The entire future of the
once-mighty club is now shrouded in doubt, with the prospect
of ejection from France's professional leagues being a very
real one indeed.
Top 14
Transfers 2011/12
In a
separate development ProD2 side RC Narbonne have
managed to convince the DNACG about their future finances
and have thus been spared relegation to Fédérale 1 - as
previously sentenced.
The club's
successful appeal followed a two-hour presentation during
which Narbonne gave assurances about current and future
investment. Australian company FG Management are seeking a
buy-out of the ProD2 side, with head coach Henry Ferrero
having already been dismissed.
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