Playing in Ligue 1 in four years and the Champions League in seven years, in a stadium with 40,000 seats… This is the surprising ambition displayed by Iwan Postel, president since June of FC Rouen which welcomes Lille on Friday, in 32es of the Coupe de France final.
When the 57-year-old Dutchman took the reins of the Red Devils, they were in financial agony, despite an epic Coupe de France marked by the elimination of defending champion Toulouse in 16esthen Monaco in 8es.
More than two million euros in debt last year
The mismanagement of the previous president and main shareholder, Charles Maarek, had left the club with more than two million euros in debt.
It was then that Tarkan Ser, a Turkish businessman active in particular in the purchase/sale of private jets, set his sights on FC Rouen, entrusting management to its vice-president, Iwan Postel, with a profile for the least atypical.
“I have traveled a lot, a lot (…) I have had several lives, yes. We can say that,” said the latter.
A jack-of-all-trades entrepreneur, he spent part of his childhood in Monaco, spent a long time in England or the United States, and lived in Spain. Married to a Turkish woman, he now divides his time between Istanbul and Rouen.
Inexperience, an advantage?
If he has always evolved in the world of sport – in sponsorship or communication in Formula 1, through a Turkish TV channel launched, already with Tarkan Ser, who wanted to be “the Bloomberg (financial information agency, editor’s note) ) of sports betting” – football was almost an unknown land.
But when Ser, a true “football lover”, asked him to find a club to buy in France, it was Rouen which caught his attention.
“They are in National, but they have 4/5,000 people per match. It’s still not bad. They have existed for 125 years (…) There may be an opportunity,” he says, completely uninhibited by his inexperience in football.
“Unlike all the other club managers, I pretend not to know too much about football. And I think that could be an advantage,” he says. “Everyone who knows about it is struggling. Why wouldn’t it be someone who doesn’t know anything about it who will succeed? “.
An excessive ambition
He quickly gained a reputation as a man of disconcerting outspokenness and inordinate ambition for the current 9e of the National after 14 days.
“If they want to accuse me of my intentions on the fact of being ambitious, very good. Ambition is not really part of the French vocabulary, of French nature, but it doesn’t matter, I assume,” he asserts.
Two years to move up to Ligue 2, two more to reach the elite, plus three to obtain qualification in C1, his calculation is clear: Rouen can play in the Champions League in seven years.
“We’re getting there, we’re not getting there? Time will tell. In any case, today, no one will be able to prove to me that it is impossible,” he argues.
Robert-Diochon forgotten?
A destiny for which the current Stade Robert-Diochon, which will host Lille on Friday, but which is very far from professional standards, cannot be the scene.
Never mind, Iwan Postel is considering the construction of a “multi-activity arena” with 40,000 seats which will allow the club to “self-finance”.
“It’s a project neither in tens, nor in hundreds of millions of euros, but in billions,” he adds.
To find the funds, “my project will be presented to Americans or people from the Middle East who are much more receptive to this type of project,” he says.
Far from being offended by the polite or vehement reservations that his ideas arouse, he assures that it is “in contrary winds that great victories are won”.
Face in 32es final, a French team entered in C1 is, for him, a sign of “destiny”.
“We are seven years old (before playing the Champions League) and we already have our first training match! “, he rejoices. “Besides, we’re going to win!” »
