The French Rugby Federation has taken its former equipment supplier Le Coq Sportif to court over unpaid debts of 5.3 million euros.
Through its president Florian Grill, the French Rugby Federation (FFR) has announced that it has launched legal proceedings against its former equipment supplier Le Coq Sportif. The body is seeking to recover an unpaid sum of 5.3 million euros.
The French brand was chosen in 2017 to outfit the French and amateur rugby teams until the end of the 2023-2024 season. Since then, Adidas has taken over the market.
“They owe us 5.3 million euros in sponsorship contracts, unpaid royalties, and late payment interest,” explained Florian Grill. “We have made several plans to settle Le Coq Sportif’s debt. None of these plans have been respected and we have reached a point where we are taking them into receivership. If they want to get out of receivership, they should pay us.”
The recent public minutes of the Federal Bureau of the FFR succinctly highlighted the latest difficulties encountered with Le Coq Sportif. In addition to problems with the delivery of equipment, it was specified in August that “Le Coq Sportif is unable to pay” and that the legal summons procedure was on track.
Le Coq Sportif in financial difficulty
In financial difficulty, Le Coq Sportif has probably just reached its peak of notoriety thanks to the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games, during which the brand was the official equipment supplier of the French delegation. But to keep this contract, its CEO admitted in July 2023 that he was looking for 30 million euros. At the same time, it was already clear that the unpaid debts to the FFR were significant. “When we arrived at the federation (in June 2023, editor’s note), we already had more than 4.6 million in unpaid debts,” explained Florian Grill.
In the 2023 financial year, Le Coq Sportif’s turnover fell by €20 million to €121.442 million, associated with a loss of more than €28.25 million that the parent company, Airesis, attributed to a repositioning in the footwear sector. Airesis posted a loss of 36 million Swiss francs (€37 million) in 2023. In May, Le Coq Sportif received a €2.9 million loan from the Paris 2024 Olympic Games Organising Committee for the “supply of sports equipment” for the competition.
“We’ve had a lot of trouble with footwear over the last three years, which has led to difficulties and somewhat negative results,” Marc-Henri Beausire, CEO of Le Coq Sportif, acknowledged on BFM Business on Wednesday. “Today, all these categories are working extremely well,” added the Swiss leader, explaining that there has been growth in textiles of 20 to 30% since the Games. “Which we expect to be even stronger in 2025.”
The FFR, for its part, announced at the beginning of the summer that it was suffering structural losses of 17 million euros and a total deficit of 35 million euros for the 2023-2024 season. A delicate situation linked to a budgetary slippage for the 2023 World Cup organized in France.
