Like Matthis Abline (author of a double), who himself came, shirtless, to bring his jersey to one of his victims Antoine Metzler in the locker room, the Nantes players were rather generous with those de Drancy after their victory (4-0). This is not the case for their leaders. According to our information, Nantes did not leave its share of the revenue to the resident of National 3. It amounted to around 13,000 euros. The tradition of the Coupe de France is that professional clubs give up their share of ticket revenue to amateurs. But nothing legally obliges them to carry out this gesture.
Several Ligue 1 clubs such as OM, Lille and Rennes have experienced “a bad buzz” in recent years by leaving nothing to their opponents. FC Nantes is rather accustomed to leaving with its share of the revenue when it faces an amateur club. This was already the case in 2023 at AF Virois or at Vitré in 2019.
A loss-making operation for Drancy
Contacted this Sunday morning, the president of the JAD Alain Melaye expressed his anger: “We are going to make a transfer to the people of Nantes of 13,000 euros while the club has a budget of several tens of millions of euros,” he regrets. For us, the trip to the Bauer stadium and all the expenses incurred will cost us 40,000 euros. We will undoubtedly have to pay a large protective net to the Red Star manager because the Ultras Nantais burned him after the match. »
Despite the presence of 3,400 spectators in the stands of the Bauer stadium rented for 30,000 euros, not counting the 16,000 euros linked to security costs, Drancy will thus be in deficit for the organization of this 32nd final of the Coupe de France.
“There was no human contact with the Nantes leaders”
But beyond the financial aspect, Alain Melaye did not appreciate the attitude of the Nantes leaders. “The players made us a guard of honor and I was able to greet Antoine Kombouaré but there was no human contact with the Nantes leaders. I was told that President Waldemar Kita was there but he never came to see us. They also didn't want to come to the post-match reception. It's the first time I've seen that and yet we faced several professional clubs in the Coupe de France (la JAD played his fifth 32nd final yesterday). I remember very pleasant discussions with Carlo Molinari (former president of Metz) or Jean-Pierre Rivère (president of Nice). I didn't need to ask them to give us their share of the proceeds. »
The president of the JAD continues, still very upset: “When I go to someone's house I introduce myself but we may not have the same education. I am disappointed, bitter and angry! It’s a big disappointment for amateur football. There is no rapprochement between amateurs and pros. However, many stars come from small amateur clubs. Kita's attitude is petty. This does not make man grow. When you are the president of a big club like Nantes, you are a great gentleman. I am convinced that if we had faced PSG, Nasser Al-Khelaïfi would have come to greet us. »
