The fable was too beautiful. An attractive team, a group of friends playing festive, a coach, Régis Le Bris, passionate and fascinating. Lorient, 7th in Ligue 1 before facing Rennes on Friday evening, has proven, for half a season, that football on a human scale has a voice at the highest level. Before being overtaken by what we like least in sport: money. Several weeks ago, the Hakes opened their capital up to 30% (this figure will increase to 40% next summer) to Bill Foley, a 78-year-old American billionaire in search of a last thrill. The latter had bought, in December, the Bournemouth club, in the Premier League. And he does not come alone. Michael B. Jordan, known for his roles in Creed and Black Panther, accompanies it as co-owner. Quite a cast, literally.
The arrival of Foley on the coast of Brittany – like that of Textor in Lyon – is part of a logic of timeshare, a particularly widespread phenomenon since the end of the last decade. “In five years, we have gone from 35 timeshares to 78, underlines Luc Arrondel, football economist and director of research at the CNRS. It is considerable, we have more than doubled the figure, and it concerns 200 football clubs. »
Lorient, the ideal profile
In the case of the new minority shareholder from Lorient, there is an assumed desire to build a whole network of players from other clubs in the same group, of which Lorient is now a part. “It’s really to control our destiny, explained the investor to The Athletic, to develop players in other places and buy clubs that have large academies capable of developing their own players. In other words, “create training courses and springboards for young talent, analyzes Arrondel. The strategy of the big clubs is now to have as many players of the future as possible available so as not to miss out on the future great talents”.
FC Lorient had a nice milk cow face. 1) The price-performance ratio of the club is remarkable. 2) A concrete training center was built under the impetus of Régis Le Bris. In Foley’s mind, the Hakes would rather be at the top of the vassal scale. ” [L’idée, c’est d’avoir] a Uruguayan club which can supply a Belgian club, which can supply a French club, which can supply a Premier League club. We control our destiny. »
A little too frank communication from the collar, underlines an observer all the same. “It’s demeaning for Lorient. It’s not pleasant to hear when you have an academy, history and infrastructure to see yourself reduced to the floor below. It’s condescending. »
The Lorient supporters were indeed hurt in their flesh when they learned of the project in which Loïc Féry, the president and director, was embarking. Excerpt from a 1995 Hake Ultras press release: “On social media, Bournemouth FC wishes us ‘Welcome to the family’. Couldn’t be more insulting. FC Lorient is not a branch or part of any group […] It is out of the question that we become a vulgar satellite club. “Loïc Féry, very quickly tried to appease the spirits, without convincing many people.
“I repeat that FC Lorient will not become a branch. I am the majority shareholder and the chairman, with the decision-making power needed to follow our development strategy. »
Enzo The Fairy not thrilled by Bournemouth
It is in this context that the transfer of Dango Ouattara, sold for 22.5 million to Bournemouth, takes place. “A fake sale, believes Franck Belhassen, an experienced agent. Because if in addition to this English club, there had been a proposal in Spain or Italy, the preference would have gone to a transfer within the group. You have to wonder if, somewhere, the players are not also taken hostage. »
That remains to be seen. According to our information, Enzo Le Fée is also in the sights of the English club, but the latter has no intention of signing for Bournemouth, end of story. The Premier League team is further seen by the Britons as a way to sell a bit more than expected. Ouattara would be gone anyway, one day or another, it is said.
This vertical system marks with a red iron a tacit hierarchy already existing within European football and less and less questioned on the sports field, where major exploits, in particular in the Champions League, are becoming increasingly rare. “Each club must recognize its role in the group. Each club has its own objectives”, explains Antoine Gobin, CEO of the Beveren club, in Belgium, attached to a vast group comprising Crystal Palace, Augsburg, Estoril and Brondby, within which scouting data is pooled and movement opportunities numerous internals.
“During the transfer windows, we make our list of players belonging to the other clubs in our structure, and we ask them if they are looking for loan opportunities. It can concern young players or confirmed players that we would never have had the opportunity to bring to us in normal times for reasons of price, salary expectations or because the player felt he had the level for the Big 5. ” “There can also be disputed loans, warns Arrondel. For example, Nancy who was prohibited from recruitment, had been loaned players bought by Ostend, which belonged to the same owner. It is a way of circumventing the prohibitions. All this can have consequences on the transfer market. »
Conflicts of interest and sports equity at risk
By zooming out a little more, all sporting equity is threatened. Because the proliferation of timeshares mathematically increases the chances of seeing formations belonging to the same mother ship compete at European level, which is strictly prohibited by UEFA regulations.
“No club participating in a UEFA club competition may directly or indirectly (…) be involved in any way whatsoever in the management, administration and/or sporting activities of any other club participating in a club competition of UEFA. »
Finally, that was before the European body changed its mind and left Salzburg and Leipzig, both subservient to Red Bull, face off in the Europa League in 2018. Pandora’s box is open and all observers are worried about it. Belhassen: “Suppose Lorient and Bournemouth go to the Europa League and they meet. What is going on ? A club should not have seven others. The new hackers of the system for their part defend themselves from wanting to undermine the essence of the competition. “I know very well that if one day our club is in the same competition as Estoril or faces Estoril, we will play the competition thoroughly. It would be inconceivable to say ‘ok, take it easy against the sister club’. From the supporters’ point of view, I completely see why it seems aberrant. But in reality, it won’t be at all in my opinion. »
What is the purpose of such an approach? In the case of the City Group, it was as much about soft-power as creating an antechamber of football à la Guardiola, with a unique game project, in order to shape players capable, one day, of landing in Manchester. “But in fact, how many City Group players have we seen climb the ladder to the top, ironically a specialist. None. Zero. For Red Bull, it was above all a question of exposing the brand to sell a drink.
In Lorient, Lyon, and in all the clubs run by Americans, the approach is different. “What is quite remarkable, explains Arrondel, is this side of America in the conquest of Western Europe. Until now, the motivations of owners in Europe did not necessarily go in the direction of a search for pecuniary return. The Americans do not come to do sponsorship. If you take the Glazer family in Manchester, they managed to make quite a bit of money out of it. It’s a real culture shock. In the same way as a Texan who puts down his suitcases in Lorient.