A Tours FC – Lorient in 32es final of the Coupe de la France, the poster looked good for the Touraine club, now in Regional 1. Faced with the leader of Ligue 2, the TFC had to find there, for the duration of a meeting, the taste for high-level shocks. It will not take place. In any case not this Saturday, December 21 since it was canceled five hours before kick-off which was to be given at 6 p.m.
A few days before Christmas, with the end-of-year holidays just beginning, this should have been the occasion for a great popular celebration at the Vallée du Cher stadium, with nearly 8,000 spectators expected.
According to our information, it is at the level of the security organization that things got stuck. The FFF confirmed this via a press release. However, everything had been planned in advance by Tours FC and its general director Ibrahim Hakaoui, who had turned to the company Sud Ouest Sécurité (SOS). A device which had received the approval of the Prefecture of Indre-et-Loire.
A quote deemed too high by Ivan Desmet's unofficial right-hand man
Except that a few days before the match, Hacène Haddad, who has no role in the official organization chart of the club but who is close to Touraine of Ivan Desmet, the new Belgian owner of the Ciel et Noir club, judged the quote too high and wanted to review the system for his part.
This new organization, cobbled together in a hurry, was rejected by the Prefecture services, who asked to return to the initial system, recorded in the minutes drawn up at the end of the preparatory meetings.
The TFC then came back to SOS, the security company… which demanded cash payment of the invoice. A payment that Ivan Desmet could not ensure immediately. After negotiations, the town hall of Tours then became a guarantor.
Not enough security guards
Unblocking? No because the time remaining to assemble the necessary number of security agents was too short. Several solutions were then put on the table: the cancellation of the meeting this Saturday, December 21, its holding behind closed doors or its maintenance with a minimal security service to accommodate the more than 6,000 spectators already with tickets, while closing the ticket office at the stadium this Saturday, December 21.
A closed session decided so late led to risks of disturbances to public order around the Vallée du Cher stadium. The option was therefore rejected by the Prefecture.
The minimum security service having not been able to be assembled, it was therefore the pure and simple cancellation of the meeting which was chosen. A shipwreck for Tours FC and its enigmatic owner Ivan Desmet.
Worrying about the cancellation of the judicial liquidation
It remains to be seen whether the meeting will actually be postponed or whether the French Football Federation will sanction the TFC with a defeat on the green carpet for lack of organization…
This shipwreck is in any case extremely worrying as to the viability of SASP TFC, whose liquidation was declared on June 25, suspended on Friday July 19 and which must be confirmed or canceled by the Orléans commercial court in January, on appeal…
