Invited on the show “Ça fait débat” on TV7 this Tuesday, September 17, just after the Girondins de Bordeaux went to the commercial court, Bordeaux elected officials Mathieu Hazouard, deputy mayor in charge of sports, and Fabien Robert, opposition municipal councilor, described the four-month reprieve in receivership as “good news”. The club avoids liquidation, while waiting for a new progress report, set for October 29.
“However, this is not a carte blanche. There is a new hearing and conditions to be met. The underlying problems have not been resolved,” Fabien Robert tempers. “The most important thing is to prepare for the post-Lopez era.” […] “We cannot start again as if nothing had happened,” insists Mathieu Hazouard.
Fabien Robert, a right-wing elected official (Bordeaux Ensemble group), took aim at Mayor Pierre Hurmic, who had criticised a useless Matmut stadium that was too big for the Girondins. “Today, it is the stadium that is saving the Girondins. It will allow our club to generate revenue and to play in better conditions. It has helped to reassure the court,” he emphasised.
What economic model?
The two elected officials then debated on the economic model to adopt. “Between the court and the people who manage the club, we have professional profiles who are capable of moving forward. There is a real exit plan that is possible […] Whether we like it or not, we are in a capitalist economic world that can evolve, but which will not become a 100% participatory world tomorrow like some local associations. We must agree to go and convince investors,” continues Fabien Robert.
Mathieu Hazouard advocates an alternative model, by integrating the socios into the club. “I really like the German 50 + 1 model. It requires that 50% + 0.1% of a club must belong to people who are in a non-profit association. Investors cannot have a majority in the decision. In this model, we can also have supporters or communities. The link with local investors and Bordeaux supporters is more important. This is the ecosystem that must be found here in Bordeaux and more generally at the French and international level,” he suggests. “I am also in favor of capping salaries, as in Top 14 rugby.”
“I think we need to rebuild a more diversified, more local capital model which will initially give a marginal place to socios,” Fabien Robert opposes him.
