Top 14: Montauban face DNACG financial investigation
14
October 2008
 Montauban
have a nervous wait ahead of them after being summoned to
explain a €1.3m shortfall in their accounts for last season.
The Top 14 side, who impressed while losing
to Munster on their Heineken Cup debut at the weekend, must
now face up to the notoriously strict DNACG - Direction
nationale d’aide de contrôle et de gestion – and show why
there running in debt.
The DNACG are not a body to be taken lightly,
having demoted Albi last year for financial irregularities,
and Montauban’s president Daniel Havis will certainly have
some explaining.
According to reports in the French media
Montauban must demonstrate how they were able to declare
themselves €300,000 in profit in June, despite the
subsequent €1.3m shortfall.
It is understood that €896,000 transferred to
the Montauban municipality for stadium refurbishment (by the
Regional Administration) remains lodged at Town Hall because
the club has already received the maximum it can by law.
The DNACG will also be keen to understand how
players were paid up to €300,000 in bonuses after qualifying
for the Heineken Cup, and also how they financed the buy-out
of two player contracts – Pablo Lemoine and Sebastien
Fauque.
The Top 14 club has until Wednesday to make
their submission to the DNACG, with Havis (according to Midi
Olympique) saying he was optimistic of a satisfactory
outcome.
“The hour has come to roll up our sleeves and
for the club, the Town Council and the Region to work hand
in hand. I’m convinced a solution can be found,” he said.
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