Investigation. The commercial court pronounced this Tuesday at the beginning of the afternoon the judicial liquidation of Tours FC. An eminently political issue!
Yesterday at the start of the afternoon, Jean-Marc Ettori and Richard Plantureux were leaving a lunch in Paris with Ivan Desmet, candidate for the takeover of the club, when they learned of the liquidation of SAS Tours FC. By an article from La Nouvelle-République! “We were surprised to learn of the decision through the press even though the court did not contact usthe club owner is surprised. It’s quite a surprise because the money has been paid and the requested documents have been sent! »
A few hours earlier, the three men were together at the FFF headquarters for their hearing before the federal club control commission. “It went pretty well, we introduced them to the investorspecifies the deputy president. They told us to wait for the result of the commercial court. » And the ax fell shortly after 2 p.m. on the website of the regional daily.
Contacted by France 3 Center Val de Loire, Eric Verryden, president of the Tours Commercial Court, indicated that “the managers and buyers had almost 8 months to pay off the debts. But they did not bring any new information to the knowledge of the legal representative”. This is something that Richard Plantureux strongly contests. “ The legal representative criticizes us for not having introduced Ivan Desmet to him even though he spoke to him on the phone and met him a few days earlier! And the funds arrived in the SAS account. »
Tours town hall reacts a little late
This Tours FC case has become very political. Particularly due to the position of the Tours town hall. “If this decision were confirmed, it would be very bad news, particularly for the employees of this structure, she reacted in a press release. The City would like to express its support for the Tours Football Club association which is the foundation on which the club rests. » Small problem… The town hall of Tours was the only creditor of the SAS not to have accepted a moratorium on its debt, estimated at 103,000 euros. Which inevitably influenced the decision of the commercial court.
Tours FC received this Tuesday late afternoon acceptance of this moratorium. A little late since the decision of the commercial court had been taken. But this is not a surprise because the future of the club has become very political for several years. Mayor Emmanuel Denis had supported Omar Da Fonseca’s takeover project in November 2021. A project rejected by… the commercial court in favor of the legal recovery proposed by Jean-Marc Ettori. Sports assistant Eric Thomas was even convicted by the courts for defamation of the legal representative in this case. He appealed to the Court of Cassation for “a matter of honor”.
“Of course it’s a political will!”
A sports assistant who also supported the Joué-les-Tours club for its establishment at the Vallée du Cher stadium even though he had a management license in this club. Perhaps another unfortunate coincidence. “Of course it’s a political will » claims Richard Plantureux. According to several sources, the town hall has also met with other buyers in recent weeks.
“We had an agreement from FIFA to receive 72,000 euros on July 31 as part of the transfer of Romain Faivrespecifies Richard Plantureux. And we are working on other files which represent several tens of thousands of euros. » While Jean-Marc Ettori hoped to have sold Tours FC, it is a new stone in the shoe of the Corsican entrepreneur. But this liquidation could also lead to that of the association which owes 150,000 euros to the SAS. Unless the town hall pulls a big bill out of its hat…
The latest articles by Jérome Bouchacourt (see everything)
