The script had unfortunately been written for a long time, but as in any good or bad play, the denouement had to come. This is exactly what is happening at Rugby Nice Côte d’Azur, which may well be experiencing its last season in Federal 1… but not just that!
Philippe Deffins, president since the beginning of the season, sent his resignation by registered mail (Sic!), and his associates took note of it during last night’s Executive Committee. Likewise, the General Manager has also stepped down from his position. Vice-President Tony Catoni is the new interim president.
In severe financial crisis due to a lack of funding, for which Philippe Deffins and Paul White had pledged without following through, the club risks going directly from an ambitious project to sporting bankruptcy (relegation to Federal 3) and administrative bankruptcy (liquidation by the court).
The only possibility to stop this real descent into hell is the imminent arrival of new investors, but this time real ones, capable of providing sufficient financial resources to cover the deficit and have cash flow to meet current budgetary requirements. Which seems no small feat!
So, should we recite the ‘Deo profundis’ of the oval ball?
We wait with great anticipation for the follow-up to the Saur/Panzavolta plan, which we’re told is being studied at the Town Hall, while behind the scenes, the arrival of an investor is also being discussed, whose local relay would be none other than… Jeff Tordo.
But the club is not just a checkbook and teams; it is also leaders, whether professional or volunteers. So how to ensure an organization that meets the demands and needs of a structured and well-managed club?
Let’s not forget that following Mr. Deffins and his associates’ takeover of the club, 22 members of the Executive Committee resigned in September 2011, and the current leaders then locked down the club.
Should we imagine that they are now ready to collaborate, if necessary, with those they took care to exclude (such as Christian Panzavolta) as soon as they came to power?
The answer will come from the facts, but we know that the greed for power is an aphrodisiac that is difficult to give up. We will also be curious to see the behavior of the Town Hall, which is not without responsibility in the Tordo/Deffins case. For the latter, a simple Google search would have already given ample clues…
Should we remind that if the performers of this masquerade, following the precepts of the Latin jurist Ulpian, could not avoid the charge of ‘incuria in operandi’, the decision-makers at the Town Hall could not avoid the accusation of ‘incuria in vigilandi’.
Aren’t they there to manage public money in the best way and not to support sports projects that clearly lack any credibility, carried out by individuals who, while sympathetic, have no relevant profile? Self-promoters finely coached by a few masterminds seeking personal revenge?
In short, the page will really need to be turned to clean up a club that is decidedly incapable of escaping the demons of its past. Proof is the decision to return to the yellow and blue colors of the defunct RRC Nice instead of the purple of the former NUC (Don Camillo and Peppone wouldn’t have done better), which, along with black and white, had become the jersey of the “new” RNCA!!!
Beyond the purely aesthetic side where everyone finds their taste, was it the most urgent decision to make while the house was burning?
With a backward mindset and a tendency for “egocracy,” how to imagine that people like these can be at the helm and choose the right path for a club with so many sensitivities, like its rugby school, its youth, its women, its leisure section, the reserve, and the flagship team?
It remains to hope in this buyer who could both save the club from relegation but also, and above all, lay the foundations as solid as necessary to build a real project around the most important thing in this matter: Rugby!
Indeed, proverbs will always set the pace of our lives, and yes, you can’t make something new with something old!
