Top 14:
Montpellier's Deffins
blames financial problems for his sudden resignation
14 January 2009
Philippe
Deffins, who
resigned as president of Montpellier
on Tuesday, has said the club’s apparently
parlous financial state was behind his decision to quit.
Deffins
stepped into the breach after his predecessor Thierry Perez
moved on to become vice-president of the Ligue Nationale de
Rugby (LNR), but in a press conference on Wednesday said the
club’s financial problems were much worse than he had been
led to believe.
According to the former president the club is heading for a
€1.5m budget shortfall this season and also needs to find a
further €250,000 to cover the November signing of Australian
lock Alistair Campbell.
“The
addition of those numbers makes one dizzy. I’ve explained
the situation to the players,” he told reporters at a press
conference.
Deffins,
who also runs the club’s main sponsor Belmonte, went on:
“This decision, which takes immediate effect, is motivated
by the discovery, after my recent appointment, of the
financial, legal and fiscal situation of the club.”
He has
stepped aside less than a month after becoming president (on
December 18) and his parting shot confirmed his unhappiness
at what he discovered once in place. “I feel deceived by
someone who hid a lot of things from me,” he said.
Perez,
who was also present at Wednesday’s press conference, denied
there was an impending financial crisis and hinted there
were other reasons behind Deffins’ departure.
“There
are some off-the-field problems that are not our
responsibility,” he said. “There wasn’t a clash with
Philippe Deffins. He’s been helping us investing in the club
for years.”
But that
statement sat uncomfortably against Deffins’ declaration
that “it’s out of the question that I get taken for a ride”.
Perez
has now returned to take over as interim president at
Montpellier and is likely to be asked some searching
questions by the DNACG, the league’s financial watchdog
which takes budgetary shortfalls extremely seriously. Last
season it relegated Albi from Top 14 due its financial
problems.
In
similar situations at other clubs it is often the main
sponsor which stumps up cash in such an emergency, but with
Deffins apparently piqued by the discoveries he made while
president that outcome may not be so simple.
Related link:
Is professional rugby going to be credit
crunched?
Meanwhile, Catalan giants Perpignan have confirmed
they will take part in the four-team World Club Challenge
to be held in Singapore this July.
They
will compete against Guinness Premiership clubs Gloucester
and Saracens, as well as Australian Super 14 team Western
Force.
Whether
All Black fly-half Dan Carter will represent Perpignan
remains to be seen as the world’s premier No 10 had been due
to leave the French outfit at the end of the season.
Tournament organiser Phil Greening said all four clubs had
committed to bringing their full strength squads and
promised a “spectacular sporting occasion”.
He went
on: “To have secured Perpignan’s participation gives this
challenge the lustre it deserves and completes a line-up of
four of the world’s best teams.”
The
weeklong event is due to start on July 24.
Brive
boosted their build up to their ECC match at Newcastle
Falcons with confirmation that back row Antonie Claassen had
signed a contract extension to keep him at the club until
2012.
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