Featured image credit: Rob Ridley
The French Football Federation (FFF) and French Rugby Federation (FFR) are reportedly prepared to join forces and act as operator of the Stade de France should a proposed deal for GL Events fail to be sealed.
The French Government last month entered into exclusive negotiations with GL Events, selecting its proposal ahead of a rival offer from current incumbents Vinci and Bouygues. The Stade de France is currently owned by the Government through the Consortium Stade de France.
Through an agreement with the consortium formed by construction firms Vinci and Bouygues, the state granted the management of the 81,338-capacity stadium to the two companies in 1995. The contract with Vinci and Bouygues is set to end on July 1, and the state published two calls for tenders in March 2023, one for the outright sale of the stadium and the other for a new concession agreement.
GL Events has entered into discussions with the Government to assume management of the Stade de France from August as part of a 30-year deal. The FFF and FFR are the main tenants of the stadium, but L’Équipe today (Wednesday) reports that the two governing bodies are uneasy over the terms that would be imposed on them if GL completes its deal.
The newspaper said the two federations jointly informed the Ministry of Sports last month that they would be ready to jointly take over the operation and management of the Stade de France, with the support of the state. This solution would have the advantage of pooling the resources of the FFF, FFR and Stade de France across several key business points for the venue.
L’Équipe said two legal options remain possible at this stage, a new concession agreement or a shared ownership scheme for the stadium. The latter would be similar to a proposal earlier in play. A group known as ‘Stade de France notre bien commun’ had looked to integrate the FFF and FFR into its ownership model. This was rejected by Fin Infra, the entity which supports state investment projects.
Marie Barsacq, Minister of Sports, said: “There are still discussions underway to refine the GL Events offer, which must be validated by the Fin Infra steering committee.”
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