Football: "The Boudjellal project is about communication ...", says the owner of SC Toulon

Mourad Boudjellal had not left his rugby club (RC Toulon sold to Bernard Lemaître in December 2019) that he already had that of local football, the Sporting Club of Toulon in sight. And for the past month, Boudjellal, 59, has been proclaiming loud and clear that he is going to carry out an authentic takeover bid on "Sporting", the current 18th and last National (3rd Division). In essence, it suggests that a pool of new shareholders continues to grow, that money will flow freely, that a singer "very, very known" will get involved and that a return to Ligue 1 is possible within five years…

In short, current leaders can now step aside. Starting with Claude Joye, 59, president and majority shareholder since 2011. "To carry out a takeover bid, shares must be for sale," quipped the owner of the accounting group Joye, who bought the club. after his demotion from CFA to DH by decision of the DNCG, the financial gendarme of the FFF. Selling is not my project. We took over the club in the Honor Division in order to bring Sporting to the professional level, at least in Ligue 2. We didn't do all that to let go before… ”

"We are not incompatible, provided everything is well framed"

Since 2011, under the Joye era, the club has risen three levels while finances were under control. Sizes arrived in October at the coaching and general manager positions: Victor Zvunka and Jean-Marc Ferreri.

“The club spent 12 years in L1 and 32 years in L2, says Joye. Our initial project is to quickly join the L2. Not as it was done in the past but in a structured way, in order to avoid making the elevator. We do not want to do what Gazélec Ajaccio did: L1, L2, National, relegation ... We started the structuring work from the DH: medical center, weight room, museum, U19 team in National. In terms of licensees, we are obviously the first club in Var but the second in the Paca region, with 900 licensees, our historic record. The Boudjellal project is faster but it's communication… ”

Joye smiles at the opportunism of the latter who, according to him, would never have gone on the offensive without the current bad luck of the Var club. He is not fooled by the intentions of the former president of the RCT, but shows interest in everything. “Boudjellal says it clearly: association, training, all that doesn't interest me… He is the bearer of a marketing project above all: telling a story, bringing people back to the stadium… We are more in development sustainable. "

However, Joye and Boudjellal talk to each other. They saw each other twice, the last Friday February 21. "He knows the club is not for sale but he can be very useful to him," says Joye. He is very strong in communication and marketing. We are strong and rigorous in financial management. We are not incompatible, provided everything is well framed. We have set ourselves a deadline in early April. During this period, I will have to work for next season. We will then see if it is with or without him… ”