For the moment, the question does not touch most of the supporters of the TFC. They are already madly happy to have seen their team correct Nantes on Saturday at the Stade de France (5-1), and thus win the second Coupe de France in the history of the club, 66 years after the first. But will Toulouse be able to play the next Europa League, which is in principle promised to it after this triumph?
A great vagueness remains for the moment, because the club has been owned since 2020 by the American fund RedBird Capital Partners, also majority shareholder of AC Milan. The UEFA regulations are clear in their article 5 dedicated to the “timeshare of clubs”. Here is what the text says:
“No club participating in a UEFA club competition may directly or indirectly: hold or deal in the securities or shares of any other club participating in a UEFA club competition” or “be involved in any way in the management, administration and/or sporting activities of any other club participating in a UEFA club competition. »
Two clubs held by the same shareholder cannot therefore be entered together in the European Cup. AC Milan, currently 4th in Serie A, is virtually qualified for the next Champions League, knowing that it can already win the current edition of which it will play the semi-finals.
Even if Milan plays the Champions League (C1) and Toulouse the Europa League (C3), this scenario is prohibited because the clubs finishing third in the group in C1 then join the C3…
AC Milan ahead of TFC
UEFA specifies in its regulations the criteria which would decide between the two clubs to know which of the two would have the right to play in a European competition. And these criteria are not to the advantage of Toulouse, currently 12th in Ligue 1. The club admitted to European competition is in fact the one which “qualifies for the most prestigious UEFA interclub competition” (priority criterion) or , failing that, “the club best ranked in the national championship” (second criterion), then “the club whose association is best ranked in the UEFA access list” (third criterion).
Asked Friday about this regulatory imbroglio, Toulouse coach Philippe Montanier refused to dwell on the subject. “Each day has its own task. Tomorrow [samedi]we will be there to win the Coupe de France, for Europe we will see afterwards, ”he had swept away.
Red Bull Hope
The club will now have to look into the matter, while scrutinizing the results of AC Milan, majority owned by Redbird since 2022. There is still hope because a precedent exists in recent history, that of Red Bull, holder in 2017 of two clubs qualified for the Champions League, Salzburg and Leipzig.
UEFA had taken up the case but Salzburg had shown its credentials by making internal changes, in particular removing people from its general assembly and its board of directors “allegedly linked” to Red Bull, and putting an end to to loan agreements with Red Bull. The two clubs had been able to line up in the competition. The notion of “decisive influence” – terms present in the UEFA regulations – of the company Red Bull on the two clubs had been at the center of the debates.