This same SASP, which had been responsible for the management of the senior teams, including the first team participating in the Fédérale 1 Championship with the ambitions we know, for two sports seasons and until recent days.
This rupture was set into motion a year ahead of the normal expiration of the contract that had been concluded for a duration of three years.
The decision, unanimously taken by the Association’s Board of Directors at the meeting on September 6, ends months of discussions between the two entities without any agreement being reached.
It should be remembered that the SASP was established to facilitate the arrival at the club of the English businessman and Monaco resident, Paul White, and its main goal was to finance the professional activity of the first team aiming for promotion to Pro D2. Unfortunately, the sports results, despite substantial financing, did not meet the ambitions, which might explain a certain detachment of the principal (and almost totalitarian) shareholder of the club who signaled his intention to limit his financial contribution in the future.
But beyond this question of money, whose critical importance is undoubted, the Association also denounces the absence of proper corporate management. A situation that forced the DNACG of the FFR to decide to demote the club to Fédérale 2, ultimately reversing this decision after additional funds were provided during the summer.
The association sees all this as “maladministration” that could even compel the club to file for bankruptcy with the severe consequences we can easily imagine and negative repercussions on the activities of amateur teams (youth, women’s, veterans, and even its rugby school which is one of the best in France).
Why and how did we arrive at this point?
Difficult to say in the absence of clear explanations, although we might wonder why a certainly savvy businessman like Paul White was unable to control the management he himself had entrusted to those sports managers of the time.
A certain budgetary ease may have led to the application of management criteria that were not the most appropriate? If we choose this option, we revisit talk of the former management and its performance. The inventory of the current situation made by the new person in charge, Marc-André Doumergue, is not the most reassuring: “I don’t want to create a controversy and I prefer to look ahead,” says the concerned party, “but it is true that I would have preferred to receive a different legacy…”
Because, aside from the sports results, it is true that everything else shows striking shortcomings or irregularities, such as the General Assembly of June 4, which must be considered “null and void” due to glaring procedural defects and non-compliance with statutory norms (to this day, the elected president, Paul White, cannot be considered as such, and the outgoing John Hall remains in charge despite his resignation).
We spoke with Christian Baldacchino, President of the Association. We also wanted to get Paul White’s opinion, but it was not possible due to his “absence” during last Sunday’s RNCA-Graulhet match at Les Arboras.
Christian Baldacchino: “I want to tell you right away that the Association is a passive party in this situation.
Our decision to break the contract with the SASP for managing the senior teams carries obvious risks: September 6 being the week before the start of the championship, how could we consider starting it without knowing how the SASP would meet its obligations to the FFR and the players? All our friendly efforts to resolve the real issues we raised yielded no results.
Last season, we denounced “mismanagement,” and we were met with a “dismissal.” This season, particularly after the DNACG report, we intervened to ask the SASP to get the situation back on track. Again, to no avail.
But the club does not belong to those who were willing to put money but belongs to the City and all the associates!
Do we want a repeat of the bankruptcy of the glorious Racing Rugby Club de Nice? I don’t!
For reasons that escape me, it is evident that the SASP was no longer managed. So, the Association, which remains the club’s last resort, had the only possible solution imposed on it: ending this situation and doing so in time to start the championship regularly. So, that’s what we did after informing the FFR and the City Hall of Nice.
I repeat: the first to pay the price is the Association. We started with budgetary obligations set by other people, and we do not have the assurance of being able to meet them.
But the essential thing is that the club is no longer dependent on administrative decisions that could have condemned it to filing for bankruptcy: let’s not forget that an SASP is a capital company, subject to all legal obligations. And in this regard, we had to note that there were a lot of irregularities!!!
Here again, I don’t want to create controversy, but it is evident that everyone will have to assume their responsibilities. We cannot put in the same basket those who managed these past years and those who, on the contrary, were excluded, even not informed.
In the coming days, important decisions will have to be made with the support of local authorities. I can assure you that my only concern is how the club will be able to cope with the abandonment (as I consider it) of the main shareholder and what the prospects for the future might be.
We will need to be very imaginative!”
Rugby in Nice almost found itself once again in a situation similar to facing “death” due to a project that, while it had the appropriate foundations at the start, was subsequently mismanaged: management or good fortune?
But from there comes a simple question: why did no one intervene before the problems became serious and almost unmanageable? Which pilot was in the RNCA plane during these last two seasons, and why did the auditors or other managers not raise the alarm sooner! Let’s not forget the saying ‘culpa in operandi’ does not exclude ‘in vigilandi.’
The probable dispute between the Association and the SASP will fortunately not prevent the teams from participating in their respective championships, even if other funding sources will need to be found to replace those generously provided by the main shareholder Paul White, who, let’s not forget, still injected more than one and a half million euros into the club. Here again, a simple question: Why and so what?
It remains to be hoped that local authorities support and especially accompany the club, as is their duty, during this period, which will certainly be difficult but also that the responsibilities of those who brought the club to the brink of disaster through disgraceful management are clearly established so as to prevent this high-wire performance from being forgotten!!!
It’s always important to preserve the sporting and moral values of a sports discipline against sole ambition and the issue of money.
