Budget, Jonelière, Simon… What to remember from Franck Kita's oral

The deputy director general of FC Nantes held his press conference to resume the seasonFranck Kita, the deputy director general of FC Nantes. - Arnaud Duret / FC Nantes Tuesday, Franck Kita, Deputy Managing Director of the FCN, swept away all the hot topics of the moment. There was obviously talk of the club's finances and the suspicion of tax fraud hanging over Nantes president, Waldemar Kita. The DG also announced that Philippe Mao had been promoted to club sports coordinator. Hea...

Franck Kita, the deputy director general of FC Nantes. - Arnaud Duret / FC Nantes

Tuesday, Franck Kita, Deputy Managing Director of the FCN, swept away all the hot topics of the moment.
There was obviously talk of the club's finances and the suspicion of tax fraud hanging over Nantes president, Waldemar Kita.
The DG also announced that Philippe Mao had been promoted to club sports coordinator.

Health crisis obliges, Franck Kita held his return to school conference in conference vision, Tuesday. The deputy director general of FC Nantes, installed at the desk in the Jonelière press room, spoke for almost fifty minutes, most often referring to coach Christian Gourcuff for questions on the transfer window. Selected pieces from this long press conference.

Franck Kita is in favor of a recovery

Everyone resumes except us. It is a pity for the players, the public and a pity for French football. Today, we can see that we could have resumed the championship.

What about the club's finances?

The health crisis (and its consequences on TV rights in particular) will impact all French clubs. We are not going to have any particular difficulties. This will not put the club in economic stress. We will thus go from 65 million euros to 75 million euros budget.

Investigation into suspected tax fraud involving Waldemar Kita

We are in a normal procedure. Our lawyers have already answered. We are not going to expand on the president's tax situation. We will focus on the sportsman. There will be no impact for the club. It is a classic tax audit with classic measures.

Louza and Simon leaving?

We want to keep all of our best players. Louza showed up last year. He needs to stay at the club and grow. We need him. Simon? We just exercised the call option. He is very happy to stay with us. We will talk about his departure later, but not this year.

What ambitions for the coming season?

We really need to settle in the first part of the table. We see that every year, we are able to do beautiful things, every year, we are not far… For example, we had an excellent first part of the season last year, but the winter period is still with us a bit complicated.

A year ago, there was talk of a club sale ...

There was this opportunity (LFE, a Swiss pension fund had shown interest in the FCN) last year, but it is ancient history. With my father, we love the club, we do the best we can with our means. We don't try to separate ourselves from it, on the contrary, we try to develop it.

A promotion for Philippe Mao

Philippe Mao (head of the recruitment unit) already had the function but not yet the title (sports coordinator). He will be responsible for coordinating the women, the academy and the professionals. It's a role we didn't have today. It has gained some scale today at the club. That is why we decided to appoint him to this position.

A departure from the Jonelière?

Regarding the possible relocation of the training center, we are working on a number of options, but there is nothing really concrete. The club is growing, the pros have other requirements, the training center cannot claim the new categories. We are restricted and the girls take up a lot more space. In this situation, it makes sense to think of something else. We want the whole FC Nantes family to be in the same place. And here we cannot be satisfied. We have aging infrastructure, we lack office space and we no longer know where to put people. Whether for the administrative or the sportsman, we are facing too many constraints. We are looking, but the health crisis has slowed everything down. The subject has not advanced.

The Mogi Bayat case (very influential agent at the club)

Each club has its network of agents. It's like that. Philippe Mao has become a sports coordinator, he will work in close collaboration with all the sports sectors of the club and always in contact with management. It is he and the coach who have the final word on the recruitment of players. Mogi Bayat works very well and has a reputation throughout Europe. But, we are independent. We do what we want. We especially want to satisfy the coach. He is an agent with whom we work, but it is not he who negotiates all the files. Those who negotiate are the president and me, with the approval of the coach.

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PODCAST. "Without control": Review of the season, suspicion of tax evasion for Kita and the transfer window