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Bank of Mourad saves Toulon from Top 14's financial police

Toulon's Mourad Boudjellal dug deep to ensure his beloved club were not relegated to the ProD2

Yes, the Top 14 is a big-money business, but dark clerks of the FFR and LNR ensure clubs do not play fast and loose with the financial rules, writes James Harrington

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If ever you needed proof that French rugby’s Top 14 was a high-stakes game for high rollers with money to burn, recent news has delivered it.

Last week, the new billionaire owner of Stade Francais, Germany’s Hans-Peter Wild, revealed he was willing to invest €30million of his own money over the next three seasons to right the struggling Stade ship.

The 75-year-old Capri-Sun king joked: “At my age, I’ve earned the right to have some fun.” But he also said that he wanted his investment to become one of the top three clubs in Europe.

And then, on Sunday, it was revealed that Toulon – that rabble-rousing red-and-black symbol of conspicuous Top 14 consumption – were days away from being busted down to the second-tier ProD2 by the dismal-sounding Direction Nationale d’Aide et de Contrôle de Gestion (DNACG), who had discovered a €2million hole in their finances.

Reports said €1.7million of that hole was a payment owed to sportswear manufacturer Puma, following a court ruling after the club ended a contract early in 2011.

In truth, the threat of relegation was snuffed out almost as soon as it began. On Tuesday, the day before the players were due to return for the first day of pre-season training and two months before the new season kicks off on August 19, the club’s millionaire president Mourad Boudjellal plugged the hole in return for a noticeably increased stake in the club. He now owes 93% of the shares, as opposed to the 51% he owned on Sunday.

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It proves that no-one, not even the comicbook enfant terrible of French rugby, makes the mistake of not taking the DNACG seriously.

It is the second time in a year that the club has been up before the DNACG beak. In August 2016, they were fined €100,000 for breaching the salary cap.

But who are they, these dark clerks of the DNACG?

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They are the financial gendarmes of the professional game in France, the thin red-tape line that keeps the financial peace in French rugby. It’s their job to ensure the 30 clubs of the Top 14 and ProD2 stay on the financial straight and narrow and do not break the salary cap.

They are funded by the FFR and the LNR, but independent and report only to the union.

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Contrary to many opinions, understandable given frequent raids on southern hemisphere playing talent, these forensic accounting detectives wield serious power in France. No club takes the DNACG lightly.

And no club is sacrosanct. Earlier this year, they had their eyes firmly on Toulouse. Until changes at the top and a new source of revenue was enough to satisfy them that the club had stepped back from a financial precipice.

They can scrutinise the accounts of any professional club in France at any time, and punish miscreants with fines of up to €2million. They can – and have – busted clubs down several leagues. They can – and have – suspended player contracts while they made sure the clubs in question had the funds to pay them.

Ask Grenoble. In 2005, a season after they were relegated from the French top flight, Grenoble were ordered out of the professional leagues altogether after an audit of the club’s books revealed debts of €3.64million. 

Ask Montauban. The Tarn-et-Garonne club finished the 2010 Top 14 season in 12th place – out of the relegation zone – but were busted down to the ProD2 after they were found to have breached budget rules. The club later filed for bankruptcy and returned to the amateur leagues. In 2014, Montauban returned to the ProD2 ranks.

Ask Bourgoin, Dax, Albi, Beziers, Carcassonne, Perpignan – all big French rugby names, all of whom have risked the wrath of the DNACG in recent seasons. Bourgoin, in fact, could be in trouble again. Federale 3 – the fifth, determinedly amateur, tier of French rugby – beckons if the 1997 European Challenge Cup winners cannot find the finances to keep going.

Before each season, clubs must present their provisional budgets – including TV rights income, sponsorship, ticket sales, regional cash etc. If there is a later discrepancy – say, not all the expected sponsorship money comes through, then the DNACG’s dark clerks take an interest. They will want to know how and why the club will fill the hole. Any club that cannot provide acceptable answers will face sanctions. No matter who they are

And, make no mistake, that €10million salary cap is enforced. That is not to say that clubs cannot be inventive with bonuses and image rights to boost players’ incomes: a sizeable portion of Dan Carter’s Racing 92 pay cheque comes in the form of image rights, for example, while Toulon have made determined and successful use of bonuses for years.

So, yes, there are ways and means to sidestep some of the rules some of time. But woe-betide any club that doesn’t keep its books in order. As Toulon very nearly found out this week.

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B
BeamMeUp 3 hours ago
The Springboks have something you don't have

A few comments. Firstly, I am a Bok fan and it's been a golden period for us. I hope my fellow Bok fans appreciate this time and know that it cannot last forever, so soak it all in!


The other thing to mention (and this is targeted at Welsh, English and even Aussie supporters who might be feeling somewhat dejected) is that it's easy to forget that just before Rassie Erasmus took over in 2018, the Boks were ranked 7th in the world and I had given up hope we'd ever be world beaters again.


Sport is a fickle thing and Rassie and his team have managed to get right whatever little things it takes to make a mediocre team great. I initially worried his methods might be short-lived (how many times can you raise a person's commitment by talking about his family and his love of his country as a motivator), but he seems to have found a way. After winning in 2019 on what was a very simple game plan, he has taken things up ever year - amazing work which has to be applauded! (Dankie Rassie! Ons wardeer wat jy vir die ondersteuners en die land doen!) (Google translate if you don't understand Afrikaans! 😁)


I don't think people outside South Africa fully comprehend the enormity of the impact seeing black and white, English, Afrikaans and Xhosa and all the other hues playing together does for the country's sense of unity. It's pure joy and happiness.


This autumn tour has been a bit frustrating in that the Boks have won, but never all that convincingly. On the one hand, I'd like to have seen more decisive victories, BUT what Rassie has done is expose a huge number of players to test rugby, whilst also diversifying the way the Boks play (Tony Brown's influence).


This change of both style and personnel has resulted in a lack of cohesion at times and we've lost some of the control, whereas had we been playing our more traditional style, that wouldn't happen. This is partially attributable to the fact that you cannot play Tony Brown's expansive game whilst also having 3 players available at every contact point to clear the defence off the ball. I have enjoyed seeing the Boks play a more exciting, less attritional game, which is a boring, albeit effective spectacle. So, I am happy to be patient, because the end justifies the means (and I trust Rassie!). Hopefully all these players we are blooding will give us incredible options for substitutions come next year's Rugby Championship and of course, the big prize in 2027.


Last point! The game of rugby has never been as exciting as it is now. Any of Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, France, Argentina, Scotland, England & Australia can beat one another. South Africa may be ranked #1, but I wouldn't bet my house in them beating France or New Zealand, and we saw Argentina beating both South Africa and New Zealand this year! That's wonderful for the game and makes the victories we do get all the sweeter. Each win is 100% earned. Long may it last!


Sorry for the long post! 🏉🌍

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