The more time passes, the darker the sky becomes for SASP Tours FC, the professional part of the club. If the second judicial liquidation procedure, which was to be studied on Tuesday January 14 in Tours, was postponed until January 28, it was to await the result of the first, debated this Thursday January 16 at the Orléans Court of Appeal .
It will undoubtedly be postponed once again, since the first judicial liquidation will finally be confirmed or invalidated on Thursday January 30. And, without getting ahead of ourselves, we can say that the future seems very bleak for the Touraine club, the main argument put forward by Maître Antoine Brillatz, lawyer for the TFC, having been swept aside by the Loiret magistrates.
Inadmissible documents
The court was awaiting the conclusions of Tours FC by January 9, 2025 at 9:30 a.m. but two pieces from the club (one ” payment order “ of 950,000 euros and a certificate on the honor of Ivan Desmet) were sent in the afternoon, considering that no closing email had been received – the fault of a computer problem on the court’s side.
Maître Brillatz then hoped for a revocation of this closure order. But after a suspension of the session, the documents were deemed inadmissible by the Court. The defense of the double Coupe de France finalist therefore petered out while his lawyer finally relied on the conclusions written by the club on January 8.
“What are these 500,000 euros? »
In front of him, Maître Anthony Rigout, lawyer pleading the cause of MJ Corp, the judicial liquidator, then took the floor to underline the length of the procedure, dragging on for years, the judicial recovery having been defined on May 25, 2021, before a liquidation on June 25, 2024 then a suspension thereof on July 19 of the same year.
And in all this time, the holes have not been filled. Worse, they even dug themselves. The lawyer also recalled that the first installments of the plan were not paid and that the 750,000 euros of liabilities due could not be met by the “phantom” transfer promised by Ivan Desmet. “What are these 500,000 euros? This credit reserve was supposedly made available to the club in July 2024 and, for six months, we have never had proof that it was in the current account. And even assuming that a transfer was made, it was completed…”, said the lawyer. Moreover, the agent recently warned the Tours commercial court that the Touraine SASP was once again in cessation of payments since September.
Players present in court
The situation of employees was inevitably mentioned. Four of them were present in the room – including the new captain since the departure of Léo Schwechlen, Wassim Amadi, but also Imrane Bouchema, Miracle Ikharo and the steward Dorian Bouquet – in search of answers, worried about the situation of the TFC and theirs, while they live with a sword of Damocles over their heads.
The latter have not been paid for months and are forced to survive thanks to “mutual aid”, says MJ Corp’s lawyer. A deleterious situation, just like that of former employees, due to the blocking of severance and mutual benefits for those who left following the liquidation decision.
As for the fiasco of the Coupe de France match against Lorient at the end of December, it further highlights Tours FC’s cash flow problems, with these famous transfers which are often lost at the border between the Flat Country and France. The absence of President Ivan Desmet was also highlighted by Maître Rigout.
A month to “save what can be saved”?
MJ Corp’s lawyer finally called for a confirmation of the judicial liquidation decision, with the maintenance of activities for a month in order to give time to a buyer of “save what can be saved”. A liquidation also recommended by the Public Prosecutor’s Office.
As for the players present in the Jean-Zay room of the Orléans court, who were counting on a quick decision while they are in an emergency, they will still have to wait. The deliberation date is set one day after the transfers close. Difficult in these conditions to turn around. Unless you leave first? And there, the TFC would finally lose the only “assets” that it really has left.
