“I did my best to save Sochaux” why Romain Peugeot gave up

He is the man who has given hope to Sochaux in recent weeks. If he spared no effort, made more than “500 phone calls to investors” and slept little to succeed in his takeover project, Romain Peugeot, great-grandson of the founder of the Sochaux-Montbéliard football club, had to decide to give up. Thursday. Following an unfavorable opinion issued by CNOSF, an administrative court dismissed the club’s appeal from being demoted to National DNCG, French football’s financial police. A death blow for the 33-year-old financier.

“This is a disappointment. I can not sleep. FC Sochaux is 20 years of my life, all these memories go up in smoke… Every fan loses a part of his personal history. And some have stronger stories than me. I did everything I could,” he said very prominently in the Republican East. In another interview given to The Team, he detailed the events of the past few days.

According to him, his project was financially viable. “We carefully checked the accounts and managed to save 3.7 million euros, in particular, thanks to the transfers made since July 11 and the resulting savings in wages, as well as due to the breach of the MoU. which saved the club €1.5 million. At the same time, I managed to raise 9.1 million euros from my investors. »

However, he admits that he did not yet have all this amount: “We had 5.6 million euros, but we also had documents showing that money transfers were made on previous Thursdays and Fridays, but indicated amounts have not yet been received. enrolled. I also had a letter from the banking institution, approved by its board of directors, confirming the assistance of 3.5 million euros in the form of a grant of 1.1 million euros and an advance on a checking account of 2.4 million euros. »

“FCSM has a payroll worthy of an L1 club with 130 payrolls”

Romain Peugeot also confirmed that the Élysée had indeed intervened in the affairs of Nanqing’s Chinese owner. “Yes, the Champs called Frankie Yau (CEO of the Chinese group Nenking and president of the FCSM), it was around 16:30,” confirms the financier. And at 6:00 pm, he and his lawyers returned to sign a formal 8-4 sale contract (ed. note: 8 million contributed by Romain Peugeot, 4 million by Nenking), a contract that was worth only if the club managed to stay in L2. »

Thus, the decision of the Administrative Court rendered this agreement null and void. “The sale agreement I signed with Nenking for €1 has expired. Therefore, from a legal point of view, I can no longer make decisions for the club,” regrets Romain Peugeot, who claims that he “did everything possible to save the club.”

Plan B at National would have been impossible, he said, given Sochaux’ high operating costs. “FCSM has a payroll worthy of an L1 club with 130 payrolls. The national club must submit no more than 50 payrolls. Thus, it will be necessary to complete the social plan, which will cost about 1.35 million euros. I don’t see myself asking investors and communities to fund such a plan. »

The clock is already ticking down for Sochaux, where the players had their last training session open to the public on Friday morning on the lawn of the Stadio Bonal. A deeply touching moment filled with tears.