Axel May with AFP / Photo credit: DENIS CHARLET / AFP
The French Rugby Federation announced on Saturday that it was suffering an operating deficit of 40 million euros in two seasons, following a general and financial meeting held at the Marcoussis National Rugby Center. The examination of the FFR accounts “underlines an extremely tense economic situation for the Federation, marked by an operating deficit of 16 million euros for the 2022-2023 season and a forecast deficit of 24 million euros for the 2023-2024 season, i.e. 40 million euros operating deficit in two seasons,” detailed the federation in a press release.
A federation that “lives beyond its means”
The result of a federation which “lives beyond its means” and which suffers from “one-off considerations, such as the non-accessibility of the Stade de France” due to the preparation of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, explained to the AFP the president of the FFR Florian Grill. “Each match not played at the Stade de France causes us to lose two million euros in results,” he added while the French XV will play its three matches of the Six Nations Tournament at home in Marseille, Lille and Lyon .
Added to this are the losses of the GIE (economic interest group), the organization which marketed hospitality during the 2023 World Cup and of which the FFR holds 55%, and “which will lose at least 13 million euros”, underlined Florian Grill. Apart from these specific problems, “we have a deficit structure of around 15 million euros per year and we must fill this abysmal hole”, regretted the president of the FFR in office since the month of June.
“A cold shower”
To do this, the federation will try to attract new partners and aim for “between 8 and 10 million euros in savings per year”, particularly on the operation of the FFR. But these savings will not be to the detriment of the French XV, reassured Florian Grill: “we keep absolute priority on the French team because it is 80% of our resources. But we can be more moderate in the hotel industry, doing internships in Marcoussis rather than outside, without distorting anything about sporting performance.
If this financial general meeting was “an essential truth operation” for the FFR, it is nonetheless “a cold shower”. “When we arrived, we were told of an operating deficit of around 9 million euros for the 2023-2024 season. The reality is 24 million. And for last season, we were not talking about 16 million euros.” The clubs blamed the blow “but they validated the budgetary landing which tells the truth of the accounts once we have lifted the carpet”, declared Florian Grill while specifying that he was going to do everything not to “make pay the clubs for the financial errors of the federation.