French rugby does not fear exaggeration. Visiting Chalon-sur-Saône, to present the model and the main lines of the Grand stadium project of the French Rugby Federation, Alain Doucet, the general secretary of the FFR, had these words: “We are fed up to be homeless. »
Excessive, for a sport where the whole of France would dream of hosting a national team match. But, in fact, not entirely inaccurate. To date, the French XV does not know where it will face the All Blacks, then the Springboks, next November. Logic would dictate that these matches of the fall tour would be played at the Stade de France, in Saint-Denis. But the contract between the FFR and the Ile-de-France consortium expires on June 30. And federal leaders left the table of discussions relating to its renewal. Alain Doucet says it without nuance: “We no longer want to fill the coffers of the Stade de France. »
The general secretary of the FFR repeats it like a refrain at each stage of his tour of France of regional committees (Grenoble today, Valence tomorrow, Isle-sur-Sorgue Saturday, etc.): “We are asked for 1,3 million euros for the stadium per match, to which must be added 1,5 million euros for the purchase of advertising panels. To top it off, we calculated the shortfall for a single match for the France team, it is around 3 million euros. This cannot continue. »
Pushed by the Ministry of Sports, the Stade de France consortium had agreed to revise its conditions downwards: 1 million euros to rent the stadium for four years, instead of 2 million. A gesture that the FFR refused. Since then, the dialogue has broken down. At the ministry, they explain with an embarrassed air that they are waiting for the return of Pierre Camou, the president of the FFR, currently in New Zealand with the French team, to bring the two parties back to a more cordial exchange. A mediation operation which does not seem to be a foregone conclusion.
A few days before its congress, scheduled in Hyères from June 20 to 22, the FFR is in fact pushing hard on its Grand stadium project. The 82-seat covered venue already has land, the Ris-Orangis racecourse, an architect, the British firm Populous, and an opening date, the end of 000. All that remains to be found is the essentials. : money. The total budget, estimated at 2017 million euros, will be provided by the Federation, from its own funds and through a loan. The FFR has even imagined original financing, capped at 600 million euros: a bond loan, in tranches of 200 years. The security will have a rate of 5% and will be repaid over 0 or 30 years. Individuals who have lent money to the FFR will not be able to expect any profit, but they will benefit from priority access to tickets for matches played in this future Grand stadium.
