Racing 92 and Stade Francais to merge

by marty2086 Mon 13 Mar 2017, 11:08 am

Gavin Mortimor wrote:BIG NEWS!!
According to L'Equipe, Racing 92 and Stade Francais are set to merge next season. L'Equipe reports that Jacky Lorenzetti & Thomas Savare will unveil their plans this afternoon but it seems it's definitely going ahead and that could be very good news for Grenoble - assuming they finish 13th - because the place freed up in the Top 14 next season will be filled by a play-off this June between the 13th finisher in T14 and the loser of the ProD2 final. Though still to be confirmed by LNR. As for the stadiums, Racing/Stade will play at the new Arena 92 & Stade Jean-Bouin will be home to Red Star, the Div2 football team.

No news for the moment on squad cuts or coaches, and most importantly the colour of their strip
I bet there'll be a bit of pink.

The official communique on the merger says: "This association, effective from next season, will give birth to a new club, which will preserve the roots of Racing 92, like those of Stade Francais, and multiply the means dedicated to the youth & French rugby. Strengthened by our double culture, by the staunch wish of the 2 presidents & the support of an unprecedented catchment area in France, this new club's mission in the long-term is to grow into a real reference.

Just got an email from Jacky Lorenzetti (not just me, alas, all Racing ticket purchasers) & he explains one of the main drivers was that despite Racing & Stade winning the T14 in last two years "it's been very difficult to maintain the level of performance year after year Lorenzetti says 2 clubs wrestled with same question 'How can we win not just once but year after year?' The answer is to join forces

by marty2086 Mon 13 Mar 2017, 11:10 am

Strange logic for it all, to me it will be the same problem as it is a competitive league and you can't win every year

by Scottrf Mon 13 Mar 2017, 11:17 am

This is crazy. Surely a load of players are under contract. How can you halve your player count?

by marty2086 Mon 13 Mar 2017, 11:29 am

Scottrf wrote:This is crazy. Surely a load of players are under contract. How can you halve your player count?

No details released on that, don't think the details are finalised there was mention of the coaches having their say about players but seems like Racing will be the dominant entity.

Don't think the JIFF rules limit playing squads but there will be issues about salary, LNR could well provide exceptions depending on the circumstances

by Scottrf Mon 13 Mar 2017, 11:32 am

marty2086 wrote:
Scottrf wrote:This is crazy. Surely a load of players are under contract. How can you halve your player count?

No details released on that, don't think the details are finalised there was mention of the coaches having their say about players but seems like Racing will be the dominant entity.

Don't think the JIFF rules limit playing squads but there will be issues about salary, LNR could well provide exceptions depending on the circumstances

They would have to dispensation to ignore the salary cap. Even if they get rid of half their players as far as I know the payoffs would count.

by BamBam Mon 13 Mar 2017, 12:08 pm

I've heard they're bringing in Nigel and Bruce to advise

by Kingshu Mon 13 Mar 2017, 12:47 pm

Sergio Parisse to head back to Italy to headline a new Rome based club?

Did Munster pay for hart to be released from his contract, they may have got him for free if they did.

by Eejit Mon 13 Mar 2017, 1:13 pm

Paris obviously not prime rugby territory, but even so this is insane.

by whocares Mon 13 Mar 2017, 1:19 pm

my two cents worth of an opinion:
- this really came out of the blue - while the (more logical) merger between Biarritz and Bayonne has failed a couple of times, nobody would have seen this one coming. You gotta give credit to both owners to keep their plans properly p&c.
- it does look more like Racing buying Stade Français - well at least that's what stade français supporters and players are thinking (and they are not happy at all). wont be surprised if SF players go on strike.
- apart from alienating most of the fans and having to massively decrease the payroll, there is a few other major issues (mainly branding related). One of them (my favorite) is where will this team play keeping in mind that Stade Français brand new Jean Bouin stadium did cost around 160M€ (mainly to tax payers) while the highly expected Arena 92 is meant to be finished at the end of the year. Politicians might get involved In that one as well.

press conference coming at 4pm LT with more details...

if that was to go through (which I still doubt) it would be the right opportunity to decrease the T14 to 12 teams and possibly ring fence it.

by whocares Mon 13 Mar 2017, 1:27 pm

for those who like symbols we are talking about the teams who won the first ever two Brennus (1892 and 1893) and the last two as well!

by Gooseberry Mon 13 Mar 2017, 1:34 pm

More importantly will they still be doing the Stade calender?

by yappysnap Mon 13 Mar 2017, 3:06 pm

SF players may go on strike in their next game, none were aware until this morning.

by marty2086 Mon 13 Mar 2017, 3:12 pm

whocares wrote:
- it does look more like Racing buying Stade Français - well at least that's what stade français supporters and players are thinking (and they are not happy at all). wont be surprised if SF players go on strike.

Posted on Facebook

Paul Gabrillagues wrote:C'est pas une fusion, c'est le rachat du stade français par le racing...donc la mort de notre club, le club de Paris. Je participerais pas à cette mascarade. Manifestez vous et montrez qu'on est nombreux à l'aimer ce club

It’s not a merger, it’s the takeover of the Stade Français by Racing… so the death of our club, the club of Paris. I will not participate in this masquerade. Show yourselves and show that we are many to love this club.

I can't be the only one to think there is something dodgy lying behind it all, especially as the players haven't been consulted and told where they stand and that there seems to be huge gapping holes in everything

by propdavid_london Mon 13 Mar 2017, 3:34 pm

Wow - really surprised. And like whocares - my immediate thoughts were that they both have relatively new stadiums, and where would they play!

Plenty of very good players could be looking for clubs quite soon.

by Fluxy Mon 13 Mar 2017, 3:35 pm

Kind of get the feeling there is more to this.

Johan Goosen is supposedly on the verge of returning to Racing this morning, you can't but feel he had an inside track on that new perhaps.

by marty2086 Mon 13 Mar 2017, 3:39 pm

Follow Gavin Mortimor on Twitter, he's being kept busy today tweeting about it. The team will play at the Racing Arena and Red Star FC will play at the Jean Bouin.

Apparently the merger is expected to give them a fanbase of 22k, which in a city like Paris is pretty pathetic

The Mayor of Paris is angry as they paid to renovate the Bouin a few years back

by marty2086 Mon 13 Mar 2017, 3:41 pm

Fluxy wrote:Kind of get the feeling there is more to this.

Johan Goosen is supposedly on the verge of returning to Racing this morning, you can't but feel he had an inside track on that new perhaps.

Makes sense that he does, likely the club will cut him loose as they wouldn't want him around in case he 'retires' again, means he's free and not tied up in a legal struggle for years

by whocares Mon 13 Mar 2017, 3:45 pm

players, staff (well most of it) and even the amateur structure of SF (who actually owns the pro license) were never made aware on purpose to keep everything under wrap. Key stakeholders like the city of Paris were only informed today while the LNR / FFR were made aware last week.

according to the press conference only the professional entities (senior team) would merge and it would be a 50/50 "alliance" with a strict governance (both Savare and Lorenzetti will have key roles in the newco). They will rotate between both stadiums with more focus on JB as it seems clearer that the arena 92 is more likely to be used for other type of events. Racing coaches will keep their job and I guess 45 players will go somewhere else (which also means needing an extended transfer window).

main reason highlighted is long term survival - keep in mind SF was for sale and has been in financial trouble for a while.

by marty2086 Mon 13 Mar 2017, 4:03 pm

Will both be pumping money into the new team? If not then Im not sure how they improve the odds of long term survival by increasing costs

by thebandwagonsociety Mon 13 Mar 2017, 4:17 pm

Seems like an excellent long term move by Racing 92 to remove their sole professional competitor in Paris from the table. Leave the legacy support with the amateur SF club while funnelling any emerging talent into Racing 92 from either club and becoming the sole professional outfit.

If the mayor was inclined there is probably a lease somewhere that has SF committed to playing x number of games a season at the fancy new stadium that could be inforced. They could let SF go to the wall and the lease would only be inforceable against a bankrupt entity potentially.

On the salary cap front, i'd see it potentially different to some of the above. You could argue that you have 2 caps for this season and only consequences applicable to one cap. Let's say SF pro licence goes to the wall, then any breach in cap under that licence is applied to a company on the way out! Meanwhile if Racing is the location of the merged team, that cap needs to be carefully managed as they play next season. So what could you do potentially?

That second cap is possibly a once in a lifetime opportunity to break and not suffer the consequences. Any long term deals with aging players no longer performing at the required level - sure just pay them off this season, the remaining 2-3 years worth of salary to be rid of them.

You only have to take out of SF marquee players you want to keep, and there is surely plenty of contracts coming to an end in Racing to leave mid level guys go to free up space.

You could even get more creative... how about picking up a dinosaur veteran contract from another club into SF for the final months of the season. Cash could be sent along with the veteran to have it neutral cost (or small margin) for SF but let the salary hit against their cap. Are there any final year contracts in the likes of Clermont, Toulon, Toulouse that they would like to get off their books? Here's the chance to make a play and free up cap space.

Oh this could get very interesting.

by whocares Mon 13 Mar 2017, 4:45 pm

marty2086 wrote:Will both be pumping money into the new team? If not then Im not sure how they improve the odds of long term survival by increasing costs

Savare has been pumping 5M€ per year in SF, I think the main driver for him is to reduce costs by sharing the burden and hopefully improve revenues by being the sole team In the area...

by marty2086 Mon 13 Mar 2017, 5:03 pm

whocares wrote:
marty2086 wrote:Will both be pumping money into the new team? If not then Im not sure how they improve the odds of long term survival by increasing costs

Savare has been pumping 5M€ per year in SF, I think the main driver for him is to reduce costs by sharing the burden and hopefully improve revenues by being the sole team In the area...

That's the problem though, they may not be reducing costs. If there will be two stadiums that's an added cost for both clubs. The revenue streams will be singular as there will only be one match day revenue, one tv revenue, one prize money.

The pooled fanbase of the new club is going to be 22k, that's not counting in the idea of what is looking like a mutiny/strike on the Stade side of things which will hurt the club.

What is needed is some serious growth of the game in Paris to grow the fanbase, this may be part of the plan but if there is ill feeling from the beginning then it becomes an uphill battle. You just have to look at Welsh regions to see how a fractured beginning has had on them.

by SecretFly Mon 13 Mar 2017, 5:16 pm

marty2086 wrote:
Gavin Mortimor wrote:

Just got an email from Jacky Lorenzetti (not just me, alas, all Racing ticket purchasers) & he explains one of the main drivers was that despite Racing & Stade winning the T14 in last two years "it's been very difficult to maintain the level of performance year after year Lorenzetti says 2 clubs wrestled with same question 'How can we win not just once but year after year?' The answer is to join forces

Maybe all the Top14 sides should now merge under one ownership ticket and then all sides in Top14 would win it every year?

by whocares Mon 13 Mar 2017, 6:32 pm

marty2086 wrote:
whocares wrote:
marty2086 wrote:Will both be pumping money into the new team? If not then Im not sure how they improve the odds of long term survival by increasing costs

Savare has been pumping 5M€ per year in SF, I think the main driver for him is to reduce costs by sharing the burden and hopefully improve revenues by being the sole team In the area...

That's the problem though, they may not be reducing costs. If there will be two stadiums that's an added cost for both clubs. The revenue streams will be singular as there will only be one match day revenue, one tv revenue, one prize money.

The pooled fanbase of the new club is going to be 22k, that's not counting in the idea of what is looking like a mutiny/strike on the Stade side of things which will hurt the club.

What is needed is some serious growth of the game in Paris to grow the fanbase, this may be part of the plan but if there is ill feeling from the beginning then it becomes an uphill battle. You just have to look at Welsh regions to see how a fractured beginning has had on them.

I can't comment much on the new arena 92 which is a multipurpose stadium but as far as JB is concerned, SF pays 1.2M€ per year to the city of Paris (but also receives 800k€ from the same city in terms of subvention). The net cost is basically less than Dan Carter salary. Paris townhall must be gutted though, that's another empty stadium (on top of Charlety) so they better get the 2024 Olympics for all that equipment.

by Kingshu Mon 13 Mar 2017, 8:32 pm

whocares wrote:
marty2086 wrote:
whocares wrote:
marty2086 wrote:Will both be pumping money into the new team? If not then Im not sure how they improve the odds of long term survival by increasing costs

Savare has been pumping 5M€ per year in SF, I think the main driver for him is to reduce costs by sharing the burden and hopefully improve revenues by being the sole team In the area...

That's the problem though, they may not be reducing costs. If there will be two stadiums that's an added cost for both clubs. The revenue streams will be singular as there will only be one match day revenue, one tv revenue, one prize money.

The pooled fanbase of the new club is going to be 22k, that's not counting in the idea of what is looking like a mutiny/strike on the Stade side of things which will hurt the club.

What is needed is some serious growth of the game in Paris to grow the fanbase, this may be part of the plan but if there is ill feeling from the beginning then it becomes an uphill battle. You just have to look at Welsh regions to see how a fractured beginning has had on them.

I can't comment much on the new arena 92 which is a multipurpose stadium but as far as JB is concerned, SF pays 1.2M€ per year to the city of Paris (but also receives 800k€ from the same city in terms of subvention). The net cost is basically less than Dan Carter salary. Paris townhall must be gutted though, that's another empty stadium (on top of Charlety) so they better get the 2024 Olympics for all that equipment.

The French Union was mentioning centrally contracting Players
, maybe they will take it over and enter a team in the Top 14?

by whocares Mon 13 Mar 2017, 8:48 pm

That would be a good although a bit of a crazy idea Kingshu! Not sure the FFR is really ready for this though! Ideally you still want to have French eligible players tonne spread around the country...

by Gooseberry Tue 14 Mar 2017, 8:19 am

I'm guessing Dan Carter won't be top of the list to be recontracted. Unless their new sponsor is a drinks company.

by whocares Tue 14 Mar 2017, 8:39 am

DC like many other players is under contract till 2018 and unless he wants to leave he probably won't go as the cost of breaking his contract could be quite high. That said it all depends how it fits with the salary cap and I don't know all the parameters. There is 67 players under contract next season so there will be a cost associated to disposing of some of the players.

The following players are pretty much already out : Genia (back to Oz), Nakarawa (didnt like it here), Alberts (back home). Can't see Morne Steyn staying and someone like Imhoff could consider going to the SH before the next WC?

by **Rugby Fan** Tue 14 Mar 2017, 9:02 am

whocares wrote:DC like many other players is under contract till 2018 and unless he wants to leave he probably won't go as the cost of breaking his contract could be quite high

Also, a lot of foreign players quite like the unemployment welfare available in France, so that might encourage some to wait to be sacked.

by marty2086 Tue 14 Mar 2017, 9:15 am

whocares wrote:DC like many other players is under contract till 2018 and unless he wants to leave he probably won't go as the cost of breaking his contract could be quite high. That said it all depends how it fits with the salary cap and I don't know all the parameters. There is 67 players under contract next season so there will be a cost associated to disposing of some of the players.

If they came to an agreement there would be the potential to do it on the cheap or even for free, I'd bet someone like Mourad would be sniffing around hoping sign him for big money if they have room within the cap

by marty2086 Tue 14 Mar 2017, 10:41 am

Imagine, if you will, that Racing 92 require maximum points in their final two league games of the season to qualify for next season’s Champions Cup. Their last match is at home to struggling Bordeaux, surely a formality for the reigning Top 14 champions? But their penultimate game is away and Racing’s form on the road this season has been woeful. To date, just one win, and that against Bayonne, the basement boys.

The form book suggests the odds are against Racing but this away match is just up the road, against their Parisian rivals, and as of next season their new team-mates.

Racing’s trip to Stade Francais will be memorable, historic, emotional, intriguing. But above all, it will be problematical because of the potential for a conflict of interest.

On Monday, on what will surely be remembered as one of the most extraordinary days in professional rugby, it was announced that Stade Francais and Racing 92 would join forces next season to form one Parisian powerhouse club. At a press conference in the afternoon the two presidents, Thomas Savare of Stade and Jacky Lorenzetti of Racing, produced a slick performance of unity. The former said that the presidency would be on a rotating basis and for the first two seasons he would be in charge, a convenient declaration given that many see it not so much as a merger but more a Racing takeover.

Lorenzetti fielded questions about the composition of the squad, explaining that his coaches, Laurent Travers and Laurent Labit would remain in charge, and it would be their job to select the 45-man squad from the 63 players presently contracted to the two clubs. As to when that selection will occur, Lorenzetti said no announcement would be made “before the derby”, which falls on the last weekend in April, the inference being that players will be playing that day for their places in the new Paris club.

But why wait that long? Firstly it will only cause disquiet among the other clubs competing for a place in next season’s Champions Cup, but more importantly, players need to know as soon as possible if they’ll be among the fortunate 45 chosen to play for the new club. The presidents can’t expect them to sit on their hands for six weeks in the hope they’ll make the cut

As for the conflict of interests that loom large in that Derby game, Thomas Savare rejected the idea that it could influence the result. “We’re going to play with all our force,” he declared. “The ethics of the sport are superior to all other considerations.”

‘Ethics’ was a word much in evidence on Monday as the news sunk in of the merger. After the initial shock came anger, from players and supporters, most of them aligned with Stade Francais. There was consternation, too, from the FFR which – contrary to the enthusiastic support offered by the LNR – expressed its “shock” at the news. There was clearly anger, too, on the part of president Bernard Laporte at the fact he hadn’t been warned, let alone consulted, about the merger. Laporte, who will meet the Stade Francais players on Tuesday afternoon, said that paramount in the merger were the “interests” of rugby and the “protection” of the men and women working for the two clubs.

The mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, also expressed her dismay at the “method” of the merger, as well as its secrecy, and she will meet this week directors from both clubs. What she has to say to Stade’s representatives will be particularly important given that the Paris council subsidises Stade Francais to the tune of €800,000 a year and also spent €141m renovating the Stade Jean Bouin five years ago. There was similar concern on the part of the Hauts-de-Seine council, the region encompassing Racing, and which contributes €1.2m each year to the club. Patrick Devedjian, the regional president, said on Monday evening that “there are two issues on which I will not budge: the identity and the local roots”, adding that the ’92’ [the regional code] must be retained in any new logo.

Nonetheless, the reality is that both clubs are struggling financially. Stade Francais were close to bankruptcy in 2011 before the Savare family stepped in. They’ve poured money into the club but despite winning the Top 14 title in 2015, it’s been a constant battle to pull in spectators and attract sponsors. Paris just isn’t a sporting city. It has one top-flight football team compared to London’s five, Madrid’s three and Glasgow’s two. This season Stade’s attendances have plummeted 22% , while Racing – the reigning champs with a galaxy of stars – have dropped 13% to barely 9,000.

The move makes financial sense but it’s desperately sad to see what is – however it’s dressed up – the demise of Stade Francais, a club that won the first of its 14 French championship titles in 1893. But the real victims are the players, who arrived at training on Monday expecting a routine day, only to learn that they could soon be out of work. In selecting the squad, the two Laurents have not only got to comply with the Top 14’s €10m salary cap, but as of next season they must also ensure they have no more than 16 players ineligible for France in their squad. Of the 63 contracted players, 24 are foreign-qualified so in the coming days the telephone wires will be humming as agents start to call other clubs on behalf of their clients.

Professional rugby is a tough game, physically and emotionally.

Read more at http://www.rugbyworld.com/news/racing-92-stade-francais-77437#L5sZ04zZRd8mlTDB.99

by **Rugby Fan** Wed 15 Mar 2017, 5:53 am

http://www.planetrugby.com/news/stade-frana%c2%a7ais-players-go-on-strike/

Stade Français players have reportedly gone on strike from training and playing following Monday’s news the club will merge with Racing 92.

Yesterday’s announcement came as a shock to both supporters and players and it has emerged today that the latter have gone on strike.

That means they look set not to face Castres in the Top 14 this Saturday after voting 99.8 percent in favour of taking the strike action.

Stade Français are currently twelfth in the standings and have lost eleven of their 20 fixtures thus far. Racing 92 meanwhile are seventh.

Wonder how this is affecting French preparation for the Test against Wales.

by whocares Wed 15 Mar 2017, 6:20 am

Am guessing Pascal Pape himself ran the ballot to land 0.2% of voters against in a pool of less than 100 voters!! picard

by marty2086 Wed 15 Mar 2017, 9:14 am

Rugby Fan wrote:http://www.planetrugby.com/news/stade-frana%c2%a7ais-players-go-on-strike/

Stade Français players have reportedly gone on strike from training and playing following Monday’s news the club will merge with Racing 92.

Yesterday’s announcement came as a shock to both supporters and players and it has emerged today that the latter have gone on strike.

That means they look set not to face Castres in the Top 14 this Saturday after voting 99.8 percent in favour of taking the strike action.

Stade Français are currently twelfth in the standings and have lost eleven of their 20 fixtures thus far. Racing 92 meanwhile are seventh.
Wonder how this is affecting French preparation for the Test against Wales.

The French allowed Danty and Camera to leave camp to go protest and vote and they seem to be opposed to the whole thing so the French camp seem happy enough to allow it all to happen

by wayne Wed 15 Mar 2017, 12:24 pm

I wonder if this strike is going to affect the Ospreys v Stade RCC2 game the following weekend, we've already undergone the turmoil of having the venue changed from the Liberty Stadium to the Principality Stadium, probably something else will come to man sausage up this game.

by marty2086 Wed 15 Mar 2017, 1:00 pm

wayne wrote:I wonder if this strike is going to affect the Ospreys v Stade RCC2 game the following weekend, we've already undergone the turmoil of having the venue changed from the Liberty Stadium to the Principality Stadium, probably something else will come to man sausage up this game.

If they are on strike and can't field a team surely that's a forfeit?

Do this years winners go into next seasons Champions Cup?

by wayne Wed 15 Mar 2017, 3:10 pm

[quote="marty2086"]

wayne wrote:

Do this years winners go into next seasons Champions Cup?

No, doesn't make any difference we'll be there anyway:roll:

by yappysnap Wed 15 Mar 2017, 7:55 pm

SO rules state they can forfeit 3 games, after that they're fined and relegated from the league.

by Recwatcher16 Thu 16 Mar 2017, 12:44 pm

The whole saga does seem to have an odd timing - there must be something contractual in the background that has been the catalyst. My guess wound be the stadiums, which have been an ongoing issue for the Paris teams. No team is sacrosanct - they evolve over the years (unless they are Union owned).

Paris isn't a sporting city, the locals much prefer to eat rich food and consume alcohol in suitable surroundings - not sit on plastic seats in a concrete bowl - unless it is a proper social occasion where they can have the rich food and alcohol after....

by propdavid_london Thu 16 Mar 2017, 12:48 pm

The Quins vs Stade HC game a number of years back.....played at the stade francais was one of the best games I have been to!
But, you are right - out in town after the game there were French people asking us what event we were there for (despite 5 lads out in Quins shirts).

I do wonder if the new merged team will have the same wacky pre-game entertainments!

by marty2086 Thu 16 Mar 2017, 12:50 pm

The catalyst, it seems xenophobia played a part as apparently Savare didn't want Stade falling into foreign hands as the only interested buyers were from Qatar

by marty2086 Thu 16 Mar 2017, 1:01 pm

Recwatcher16 wrote:
Paris isn't a sporting city, the locals much prefer to eat rich food and consume alcohol in suitable surroundings - not sit on plastic seats in a concrete bowl - unless it is a proper social occasion where they can have the rich food and alcohol after....

I've read a few people saying that it isn't a sporting city yet PSG have the best attendances in France both home and away, maybe it's not a rugby city more than it's not a sporting city but there are plenty who overcome similar obstacles. Wasps moved about 100 miles to get out of an overcrowded city.

I don't know the answer but have Stade or Racing done much in the local communities? Do they work with local schools or clubs trying to grow and improve the game and bring people into the club?

by whocares Thu 16 Mar 2017, 3:37 pm

marty2086 wrote:
I don't know the answer but have Stade or Racing done much in the local communities? Do they work with local schools or clubs trying to grow and improve the game and bring people into the club?

to some extent yes. Part of the subsidies they receive from the local councils is in exchange of them providing help to support local amateur rugby and age group rugby (via other local clubs if not their own academy). that say rugby presence in school is probably close to 0 % in Paris area due to lack of infrastructure and not all cities even have a rugby club (like mine for example and I live less than 5 miles away from racing current stadium...) so kids don't really get into rugby easily which is a shame because the potential is huge and many French internationals are from the area. Rugby is also not seen as a working class sport in this part of France as opposed to hotbeds such as the south west for instance. Football is big around here, specially for kids, then you have competition from handball, basketball and all sort of indoors sport. There is so much a club can do but if there is no exposure on kids then it doesn't really work. Take Thierry Dussautoir for instance : he only started rugby because his school mates were into it. If his mother moved to Paris instead of a small town In Dordogne back then I bet my house he would have taken another sport or carried on with Judo...

by mikey_dragon Fri 17 Mar 2017, 4:22 pm

marty2086 wrote:The catalyst, it seems xenophobia played a part as apparently Savare didn't want Stade falling into foreign hands as the only interested buyers were from Qatar

Idiotic statement. It's not xenophobic to prioritise local business/investment over foreign investment.

by marty2086 Sun 19 Mar 2017, 12:26 pm

mikey_dragon wrote:
marty2086 wrote:The catalyst, it seems xenophobia played a part as apparently Savare didn't want Stade falling into foreign hands as the only interested buyers were from Qatar

Idiotic statement. It's not xenophobic to prioritise local business/investment over foreign investment.

Its idiotic to say its xenophobia when you would rather destroy something than see it fall into foreign hands? Rolling Eyes

by marty2086 Sun 19 Mar 2017, 12:28 pm

Its all been called off anyway

by SecretFly Sun 19 Mar 2017, 12:33 pm

Laudable principle though (not wanting foreign ownership of something so symbolically French) if not exactly considered ruthless and clinical business logic.

But my question would be with all that Top14 supposedly means to the French, how come the only interested buyers in that big nation - with I'm sure many millionaire/billionaire investors there who love rugby - why are the only interested buyers from Qatar?

by SecretFly Sun 19 Mar 2017, 12:35 pm

oops...forget my last post.... player power seems to have changed minds

by marty2086 Sun 19 Mar 2017, 12:48 pm

Don't think it was just player power, fans were against it which meant it would probably decrease the fan base plus FFR seemed dead set against it so it might not get signed off on

by SecretFly Sun 19 Mar 2017, 1:31 pm

It was weird in many ways - adopting a strict economic 'merger' decision over the heads of people (fans and players alike) who feel, and kinda know, that sport is somehow different. Yes, sport is largely run along business lines today; the profit margins mean everything, large figures are everything, players and coaches are commodities bought and sold to the highest bidder...but still, sport is sport and teams are teams and history is history.
People who consistently try to take emotion out of the business of running rugby constantly find that there is a significant following that resist and resist such a drive to turn rugby into nothing more than Lidl or Aldi, Coke or Pepsi.

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