This morning’s General Assembly was expected to learn more about the BO takeover project. Ultimately, there was no official announcement to the press. The leaders of Olympic Biarritz preferred to remain silent until they pass in front of the A2R tomorrow.
It was a little after 9 a.m. this morning when the General Assembly of Olympic Biarritz has started. In Biarritz, swept away that morning by a light rain, the shareholders arrived slowly, a little earlier, via Avenue Henri Haget, where around ten journalists and a few supporters were waiting. The new bosses of the BOPB, whether their names are Shaun Hegarty, Flip van der Merwe or Marc Baget, joined the Kampf stand by the handrail of the Aguiléra stadium, thus avoiding the curious people present around the stadium. They were accompanied by lawyers Christophe Cariou-Martin and Arnaud Dubois.
Van der Merwe president, Dubois and Cariou Martin on the management board
The general Assembly lasted a good two hours. It took place in a good atmosphere according to the participants, but at the end, none of the shareholders present wished to make any comments. Hegarty and his associates then left the Kampf stand discreetly, still from inside the stadium, to reach the Aguiléra stand where a supervisory board followed.
As announced last month by Shaun Hegarty, former second row Flip van der Merwe (38) was elected chairman of the board. Christophe Cariou-Martin (47 years old) and Arnaud Dubois (40 years old) were appointed members of the management board, while Shaun Hegarty (40 years old) retained the presidency of the supervisory board. Cariou-Martin is close to Hegarty, whose lawyer he is also. Dubois was administrative and financial director of AS Béziers Hérault from 2012 to 2017. Last year, he supported businessman Romain Détréwhen he considered buying the Olympic Biarritz from Jean-Baptiste Aldigé.
Olympic Midi – Pablo ORDAS
No announcement
For the rest ? “We have nothing to say, we let the presidents make announcements“, indicated one of the shareholders leaving the Kampf stand. A few minutes later, Christophe Cariou-Martin, new member of the management board, came down from the Blanco stand to explain that there would be no speaking this Monday The lawyer postponed the meeting by at least 24 hours, explaining that his teams wanted to remain focused on. the expected passage before the Rugby Regulatory Authority (A2R), scheduled for tomorrow at 1:15 p.m..
A month earlier, during the press conference during which Shaun Hegarty formalized the takeover of the club, the former three-quarter center had agreed to meet on May 6 to find out more about financial support. who are supporting him in this recovery project. “We will talk about this whole project from the moment we have full control over the club.“, Hegarty said at the time. In all likelihood, we will have to wait, at least, one more day before knowing more about the financial support that accompanies the project. This Monday, around Aguiléra, a person present during the morning AGM told us about the Biarritz project: “For the moment, at the investor level, it’s vague… We don’t know any more.“
Olympic Midi – Pablo ORDAS
Hegarty: “We will communicate after the A2R”
It was around 1:30 p.m. that Marc Baget, Flip van der Merwe, Shaun Hégarty and Arnaud Dubois left the Aguiléra stadium. The chairman of the supervisory board and the new member of the management board confirmed that they would not make any official announcement this Monday. “Tomorrow we go to A2R. Out of respect for them, we will communicate afterwards. The supervisory board has decided that a communication will be made following tomorrow’s essential meeting. I hear and I understand (the pressure around the passage in front of the A2R, Editor’s note), it is legitimate and I thank all the people who love this club, who want to know. We presented, to the General Assembly, everything that we will present tomorrow to the A2R and we will move forward calmly” Hegarty explained.
“The AGM went well this morning, we have a very important deadline tomorrow, before the DNACG. She is ready, but out of respect for them, we give them primacy. I believe that the shareholders were reassured by the presentation that was made to them. Now, there is a second half to do before the DNACG to reassure the authorities“, finished Dubois. See you tomorrow, then?
