Didier Lacroix, president of Stade Toulousain, June 3, 2020 at Stade Ernest-Wallon. - Nicolas Stival / 20 Minutes

  • Stade Toulousain president Didier Lacroix wants to believe in a resumption of the Top 14 and the European Cup in September with the public.
  • The most successful club in France intends to rely on the loyalty of its supporters and partners to come out on top of the crisis caused by the Covid-19.

We will not go so far as to say that Didier Lacroix hailed "the return of happy days", like Emmanuel Macron the day before about the reopening of coffee shops. But this Wednesday, the president of Stade Toulousain adopted a resolutely proactive tone and tinged with optimism to give "the kick-off to the 2020-2021 season".

Tuesday, the NRL had formalized the final cessation of the 2019-2020 season, frozen for three months due to coronavirus. From now on, the boss of the last champion of France is projected on September 3, current date of resumption of the next Top 14.

3 friendly matches scheduled for August in Béziers, against La Rochelle (probably in Limoges), then in Ernest-Wallon against Montpellier. Course planned at Font-Romeu after the match at Béziers fixė on August 15

- 20 Minutes Toulouse (@ 20minutestoul) June 3, 2020

"We hope to play normally," insisted Lacroix in front of an audience of masked journalists, in a large living room at the Ernest-Wallon stadium, "the most beautiful field in the world", in full construction. "Normally" means with the public. "If we resume in camera, it's simply impossible to live without state aid," said the boss of the stadium, who requested a loan guaranteed by the state "in the order of five million euros ”and whose statement also concerns all his colleagues.

Because professional rugby, unlike football stuffed with TV rights, lives “at 60% of the partnership, 20% of the public and 20% of the rest [TV rights, marketing…]. "Thus, the cancellation of the quarterfinal of the European Cup" relocated "to the Stadium against Ulster and sold out (33,000 spectators), scheduled for April 5, would have caused a shortfall of 700,000 euros ...

. @ didierlacroixx: "We will come back to all Top 14 subscribers and buyers of tickets for non-disputed games in the coming days, in order to inform them of the modalities that are now available to them."

- Stade Toulousain (@StadeToulousain) June 3, 2020

It is therefore no coincidence that Didier Lacroix began his intervention of almost an hour and a half with the announcement of the holding of this Franco-Irish meeting on September 20, still at the Stadium. Before semi-finals and a final scheduled for October. Provided, of course, that the current situation, extremely changing, does not evolve in the wrong direction by then…

Still a lot of uncertainty

"If unfortunately, a second wave of Covid or a new problem occurs, we will adapt," promises the President of Toulouse, who believes that he will not have a good vision of his 2020-2021 budget until the end of September. Despite the loyalty of the equipment supplier Nike, which has extended until 2025, it will necessarily be revised down from the 37.2 million announced for 2019-2020, with players who have made wage efforts (up to 15%) while negotiations are underway with management (where Jean Bouilhou succeeded Régis Sonnes) to obtain the same result.

In small training groups, the players precisely, continue the slow and complicated recovery protocol which must bring them back to competition. With a few new faces (the scrimmages Alexi Balès and Baptiste Germain) and the Australian ghost Richie Arnold, who will pair in the second line with his twin Rory.

"A loving and loved club"

The team will still look great, to satisfy supporters and partners to whom Lacroix has woven laurels throughout its intervention. "Toulouse is a loving and loved club", he assures, building on the success of the "support wall" of which 12,000 bricks have been sold to date, for an amount of 720,000 euros donated to the association . "We are there to animate the population, make people smile, give pleasure", asserts Didier Lacroix. For this, you still need to be able to play rugby again.

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  • Coronavirus
  • Covid 19
  • European rugby cup
  • Top 14
  • Toulouse
  • Rugby
  • Toulousain stadium
  • Sport