Par
Jean-Marc Aubert
Published on Oct 15, 2024 at 1:39 p.m.
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The ASBH is once again in the media spotlight: the regional chamber of accounts -CRC- of Occitanie carried out the audit of the accounts and management, for the 2018-2019 to 2022-2023 seasons, of theBéziers Hérault Rugby sports association (ASBH) and the professional sports limited company (SASP) Béziers Rugby, designated in the report “sports group even if it does not have legal personality”.
This control is part of a regional survey on rugby and its professional and amateur structures in Occitanie. The report of around fifty pages which is public is severe and constitutes a yellow card.
Financial difficulties
LASBH is evolving in this 2023-2024 season in Pro D2 under the command of Benjamin Bagate with Pierre Caillet and his deputies Karne Kaufana and Sylvain Charlet. The club, in accordance with the sports code, is made up of two entities, an association which takes care of the amateur sector and a commercial company which takes care of the professionals. The relations of the two entities, marked by insufficient cooperation and coordination, could be more formalized.
“The association has evolved its statutes in the direction of improving the functioning of its bodies but the information needs to be improved and the sharing of decisions needs to be encouraged. Following the extinction of its property rights to the ASBH brand in 2020, it failed to contact the National Institute of Intellectual Property for their renewal. The brand was bought by a person outside the club and an appeal to the Marseille judicial court was filed by the association,” writes the “financial policeman”.
The strong involvement of the City of Béziers
The CRC adds that “the professional society was faced with financial difficulties and federal authorities threatened the club with demotion in 2021, which required its recapitalization and the entry of new shareholders. The City of Béziers was heavily involved following a change in governance and indirectly took control of the company through a cooperative society of collective interest -SCIC- which became the new majority shareholder of the SASP. This solution, presented as transitional, is not in accordance with the legal provisions which govern the participation of communities in commercial companies. The city’s financial commitments in this operation, amounting to €0.7 million, will have to be repurchased by the future buyer.
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Significant public support, but…
In this report, it is indicated that “the two entities receive significant public funding: €7.1 million in subsidies during the period examined, or 17% of the operating income of the two structures. The competition of the City of Béziers which reflects his involvement in the club is the most important among public supports. However, the exceptional subsidies it granted, to the tune of €1.25 million, to maintain the financial balance of the professional society are not provided for by the sports code.
The CRC notes, in fact, that “if the regulatory ceilings which govern the allocation of public funds have not been exceeded during the period, the missions of general interest which justify these payments must be correctly identified, in order to guarantee the maintaining compliance with the thresholds in the future. The two entities must put in place formal monitoring of the use of public funds received and transmit the documents produced to the public financiers concerned.
A financial situation under pressure
The association experienced an increase in its payroll (+€0.22 million), “which could compromise its balance in the absence of revenue linked to new projects. The construction of a future campus, the estimated cost of which is €0.9 million, will result in the signing of a 15-year lease and lead the association to repay an annual rent of €71,000. This project constitutes a challenge for the future of the structure which will involve reinforced financial monitoring,” reveals the report.
Another observation: “the economic model of the SASP is, for its part, structurally deficit despite the increase in subsidies from the city, the loan guaranteed by the State or exceptional solutions such as asset transfers or even the deferred payment of debts. Savings made on certain expenses of €0.4 million, however, made it possible to reduce the operating deficit. Equity (€0.7 million) remains at an insufficient level to comply with the 50% alert threshold of the commercial code. The club expects better results in 2024 which would allow them to be partially reconstituted; otherwise, a reduction in share capital would be necessary. Recommendations follow. A defeat of the extra-sporting ASBH, this time.
The chairman of the board of directors of the SASP, Jean-Michel Vidal, the president of the ASBH, Éric Freitas and Robert Ménard, the mayor of Béziers responded to these definitive observations, enlightening the regional chamber of accounts on the findings mentioned, explaining the choices that were made and took note of the recommendations that they will implement.
> LIRE : the full report here https://www.ccomptes.fr/sites/default/files/2024-10/OCR2024-37.pdf
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