In an interview given to The Team, the president of the DNCG made some big announcements about ASSE, in serious financial trouble.
ASSE: The Greens will last this season but…
This is one of the subjects that has been obsessing the Saint-Etienne management for many months now. In the midst of a financial crisis, AS Saint Etienne is still waiting for ambitious buyers this season. If the site looks complex, the leaders are working in the greatest discretion to find a buyer who would succeed the duo Roland Romeyer-Bernard Caïazzo, strongly pointed out by the supporters of the Greens.
In fear of a bankruptcy filing and a demotion, ASSE was relieved during the last balance sheet of the DNCG, the national management control department, responsible for assessing and supervising the financial health of French clubs. Asked this Friday by The Team, Jean-Marc Mickler, president of an independent commission, wanted to be rather reassuring about the situation of French football, assuring ” that there is no risk of filing for bankruptcy by the end of the season “.
Superb news for French football, particularly justified by a successful winter transfer window. ” The best winter transfer window that the L1 has recorded for a long time: €100m in sales and €69m in capital gain “, says Jean-Marc Micheler with satisfaction. Although these benefits are mainly concentrated on four sales : those of Guimaraes (Newcastle), Faivre (Lyon), Ikoné (Fiorentina) and Brahimi (OGC Nice).
However, if these good results are encouraging, the president of the DNCG remains measured about the future of certain Ligue 1 teams. Much work remains to be done to cover the debt and fulfill the sales promises made by the clubs. Last season, losses in Ligue 1 amounted to 645 million euros, a colossal sum. In addition, the president was also worried about the future of certain clubs, especially for next year.
Saint-Etienne and three other clubs in danger
If this season, French clubs should be spared any demotion, for the following year, Jean-Marc Mickeler wants to be more pessimistic. ” €500 million must be returned to the system, one-third of which in the form of equity contributions from shareholders. So there is definitely a risk. We naturally follow a few clubs more closely. For these clubs, we are wondering about next season. There will be real issues during our discussions with shareholders “, he specifies.
According to The Team, these clubs in danger would be Olympique de Marseille, Girondins de Bordeaux, SCO d’Angers and AS Saint Etienne. The media also specifies that the LOSC, to a lesser degree, is also in the sights of the DNCG. As a reminder, the private commission had temporarily demoted the Girondins de Bordeaux and the SCO d’Angers to Ligue 2, before these two clubs appealed this summer.
As far as the Greens are concerned, the management is doing a meticulous job this season so as not to bog the club down in an irreversible crisis. However, if no buyer is found by then, the situation could get drastically worse.