The page has been turned. Twelve years after taking the reins of DFCO, Olivier Delcourt has handed them over to Pierre-Henri Deballon (41 years old), who thus becomes the third president of the Dijon club, the first term having been that of Bernard Gnecchi (1998-2012).
On Thursday morning, Olivier Delcourt and his successor appeared jointly before the French financial policeman to unveil the creator’s project Weezevent living in the Paris region, but originally from the city of the Dukes.
From this meeting in the capital came a request to formalize the sale, which then led, on Monday, to the absence of measures taken with regard to the DFCO, which will therefore be able to continue its transformation in the coming weeks and months. The two men must also materialize the transfer of power at a press conference on Tuesday.
A new way of working
Once the sale is finalized, Pierre-Henri Deballon will officially become the owner of DFCO. The Côte-d’Or entrepreneur hopes to obtain control of 100% of the shares of the Dijon club, while Olivier Delcourt owned 77%. While a few details could slow down the process, Pierre-Henri Deballon will achieve his goals.
As revealed in our columns on June 13, the Dijon Metropolis will, in September, purchase the building and equipment of the training center for a whopping 12 million euros, the performance center – in other words the structure professional – remaining within the fold of the DFCO. Condition sine qua non in the negotiation.
Pierre-Henri Deballon must then put his own operation in place. To do this, the creator of Weezevent called on Paul Fauvel (27 years old), former general manager of Bergerac and marketing manager of Red Star, to occupy the position of general director of DFCO. An arrival which will lead to the departure at the end of the summer of Emmanuel Desplats, who took over from Olivier Cloarec in January 2021. In the coming days, Pierre-Henri Deballon, who as with each company sale has had an audit carried out, will also have to detail its wishes regarding administrative staff in order to know if departures within it will be initiated.
It also remains to be seen what role – if he will have one – will be played on a daily basis by Pierre-Henri Deballon’s brother, Arthur, who directs AVS Communication a partner of the DFCO for many years.
Place for the athlete
Caught off guard with the departure of Benoît Tavenot to Bastia, just one year after his arrival, the DFCO hired Baptiste Ridira (41) from Saint-Pryvé-Saint-Hilaire. A novice technician at this level, but whose philosophy convinced the buyers of the Burgundian club. The new Dijon coach, fan of the 4-4-2 diamond, will meet his players on Wednesday for a phase of medical tests, before confronting them on the pitch on Friday.
The native of Loire will collaborate with the staff that Benoît Tavenot had trained – notably Frédéric Sammaritano and Magno Novaes – and will discover a squad relieved of Cheick Traoré, Roger Assalé, Bryan Soumaré, Adama Fofana, Daniel Congré and Saturnin Allagbé, whose emoluments were a brake on Dijon’s finances.
Not forgetting the departures of Axel Drouhin (Annecy), Robin Risser (return from loan to Strasbourg) and Loïc Etoga (end of contract). While Rayane Messi and Cyriaque Irié – for whom DFCO rejected the first offers from AC Milan – are on their way out this summer.
Five recruits
Since the start of the transfer window, DFCO has registered the arrival of five recruits: Clermont defender Mohamed Sylla (20 years old), Le Mans midfielder Hugo Vargas-Rios (29 years old), at the end of his contract in Sarthe and who was coached by Baptiste Ridira at Saint-Pryvé-Saint-Hilaire from 2017 to 2019. But also Niort goalkeeper Paul Delecroix (35 years old), Paris 13 Atlético right-back Ismail Diallo (20 years old) and Libourne central defender Elydjah Mendy (24 years old), who signed on Monday.
If possible departures (Fdaouch, Ariss, Moco) cannot be ruled out, the Dijon leaders are listening to possible opportunities.
Before starting a season which could be one of transition in a National championship whose composition is still very uncertain.
PREPARATION
03/07 : medical exams. 05/07 : land recovery. From 08 to 10/07: internship in Les Rousses (Jura). 12/07 : DFCO – Goal FC (Saint-Apollinaire). 20/07 : DFCO – Le Puy (Chasse-sur-Rhône). 26/07 : DFCO – Sochaux (Saint-Vit). From 07/31 to 08/03: internship in Hauteville (Ain). 31/07 : DFCO – Bourg (Hauteville). 03/08 : DFCO – Annecy (Hauteville). 09 or 10/08: DFCO – Metz (Gaston-Gérard).
