It is done. Or almost. The legendary Béziers club, eleven Brennus shields on the prize list, will, in the next few hours or these next days at worst, go under the Emirates flag. It only remains to obtain the green light from the financial gendarme of the League, the DNACG. A formality since Tracfin, the body of the Ministry of Finance ensuring the origin of foreign funds, declared own these 30 million euros placed in receivership in a large investment bank to buy the ASBH. An astronomical amount for a club lively in the middle of the second division table (Pro D2). A sum intended to compensate the current owners (who have multiplied, in vain, the maneuvers to capsize the sale), mop up the debts of the club (we are talking about 5 M €) and launch a recruitment announced flashy.
READ ALSO: Takeover of Béziers: Emirati and Dominici investors soon in command
If football had already succumbed to petrodollars, for French rugby, this is a great first. Because the investor comes from the Emirates, from Abu Dhabi more precisely. But Samir Ben Romdhane is not an emir. Simply an entrepreneur with a “gigantic financial surface” according to his representative in France, Christophe Dominici. "He is very close to the royal power, who made his fortune in the extraction of oil. My friend can support a hundred generations behind him, ”swears the former XV winger from France. This fifties is however very discreet. We don't know much about his different companies, only that he markets hydrocarbons and gas. And that, living most of the time in his luxurious apartment in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, he also has a French passport.
Craze the transfer market
Why does he invest, and so much, in a rugby club, certainly with a glorious past but which has not played the leading roles for a long time (his last national coronation dates back to 1984)? Out of friendship swear Christophe Dominici and Yannick Pons, the duo who gave Samir Ben Romdhane the desire for an oval balloon. Coming to Hérault to buy a vineyard (the two men own them), he would have been seduced by the plan to take over the Biterrois club presented by the finalist of the 1999 World Cup.
Advised by Me Thierry Braillard, the former Secretary of State for Sports (under François Hollande), the buyer did not drop the case, despite the sarcasm against the current owners of the club. "Annoyed" yes, says Dominici, but determined to make Béziers "the largest club in Europe". Just that. And, to achieve this ambition, the wealthy Emirati is ready to panic the transfer market. Benjamin Fall (14 selections in the blue jersey), Argentinian internationals Matias Alemanno and Santiago Medrano, Australian center Marika Koroibete have already said yes. Like the former Wallabies coach, Michael Cheika, to become a manager surrounded by luxury consultants like ex-Pumas Juan Martin Hernandez (skills) and Rodrigo Roncero (scrum).
" Arrivals like this will strengthen the economic bubble in rugby "
Philippe Spanghero, communication strategy consultantDominici even announces the arrival of Ma'a Nonu but, according to our information, the All Black, who signed in San Diego in the United States, would not be interested. Whatever, the names fly: Beauden Barrett, the number 10 New Zealand, three times named best player in the world, or Dan Biggar, the opener of Wales, would be targeted. Crazy for a Pro D2 club. But the objective being to go up without delay in Top 14, to very quickly raise the shield of Brennus, before leaving to conquer Europe, it is necessary what it takes…
READ ALSO: Béziers: Christophe Dominici should not be appointed president
This sudden attraction of an investor from the Middle East nevertheless surprises Philippe Spanghero. “On the one hand, this is good news because it means that investors without rugby culture are starting to come to watch us. On the other hand, our rugby is already in an economic bubble. Arrivals like this one will strengthen this bubble, analyzes for Le Figaro the leader of Team One, a group of consultants in communication strategy with sports players. Because the amounts mentioned are irrational. A buyer of the Emirates would land in Paris, you could say OK, there are geopolitical, commercial, real estate and even lobbying issues. But in Béziers? There is no added value. Apart from a crush, there is no economic logic ... It makes sense in football because the sounding board is monstrous. It is much less in rugby. "And to fear that this arrival of funds will" destabilize the market. The Emiratis will attract players with colossal salaries and cause overbidding. ” The famous bubble. Which does not concern the pioneer Samir Ben Romdhane.
Read also
- Philippe Spanghero at Figaro: "To get out of it, rugby will have to introduce player transfers"
