Biarritz are left sweating on future

BY the time you read this, ProD2 side Biarritz were supposed to be under new management after a deal finally brought an end to a difficult and convoluted period in the storied club’s recent history.

- JAMES HARRINGTON

Everything was due to be signed, sealed and delivered yesterday, barring unforeseen circumstances. Unfortunately, there have been plenty of those involving the Basque club in recent seasons.

Regional newspaper Sud Ouest reported white smoke on a sale agreement earlier this month, following lengthy and not entirely straightforward negotiations between club owner Louis-Vincent Gave, his president Jean-Baptiste Aldigé, and businessman Romain Détré.

The sale of the club has been far from a smooth process. Détré tabled an offer of €3million in April which, according to reports at the time, was pointedly ignored for being too low.

With crucial deadlines approaching – there’s the small matter of the new season, which kicks off in mid-August – a deal for a reported €3.5million has been agreed and just needed the right signatures in the right places.

By now, you’ve probably figured out those unforeseen circumstances kicked in. As of Friday, according to reports, contracts remained unsigned, monies not transferred, the deal not done.

Aldigé was supposed to stand down as Biarritz president on Monday. He didn’t, and that left little time to approve the sale ahead of the crucial July 1 cut-off point (aka yesterday), when everything had to be completed for league purposes.

It’s not just Biarritz who are affected by the possible late collapse of the deal. The planned sale had implications elsewhere. Aldigé was supposed to become new president at Agen, bringing with him a decent-sized initial chequebook and some big ambitions – even, reports suggested, a couple of players from the Basque Country club.