Béziers (AFP)

"An injustice, an offense". Christophe Dominici, who carried the Emirati project to take over Béziers, expressed his frustration and annoyance Tuesday, after the announcement of the arrival of René Bouscatel, former president of the Stade Toulouse, at the head of one of the legendary clubs of French rugby.

"We suffer an injustice, an offense. And not only us. Everything was validated. We signed a confidentiality agreement on June 2. I have been on this project for two and a half months, day and night. I wanted to build a great team , with national and international actors. We wanted to make this club the largest in Europe ", assured the former international at the Raoul-Barrière stadium, in front of the statue of the former pillar of ASBH and France's Armand Vaquerin team.

A few hours earlier, a terse statement from the ASBH had ended his hopes. "The presidents Pierre-Olivier Valaize, Cédric Bistué and the majority of the shareholders have therefore just accepted a real, Biterrois, concrete and realistic project carried out by Mr. Louis-Pierre Angelotti (the main shareholder, Editor's note) who called on Mr. René Bouscatel, whose experience and expertise cannot be disputed, "said the Hérault club.

This announcement therefore put an end to the ambitions of Dominici who had, with investors from the United Arab Emirates, brought a project to buy the club to the eleven titles of champion of France.

The former international wing of Stade Français and Toulon and his financial partners were ready to invest in the club, which is experiencing financial difficulties, with debts estimated at around 5 million euros.

- Fall, Hernandez, Nonu ... -

"I want to re-establish the truth in this story where we were treated as less than nothing. We learned that the discussions were over by AFP. It is an obvious lack of respect and elegance", was annoyed Dominici.

"However, we had asked nothing. It was Mr. Ménard (mayor of Béziers, note) who met our friends because the club is in disastrous, even dramatic financial health," he added.

To build his project, Dominici says that he had convinced several major players in rugby, including his former teammate in Blue Frédéric Michalak, promised to a position of sports director, the Argentinian coaches Rodrigo Roncero and Juan Martin Hernandez or some players like Benjamin Fall, free since the end of his contract with Montpellier, or the former All Blacks star Ma'a Nonu.

According to information from AFP, the former international Maxime Mermoz (35 selections) had also been in contact with Dominici to join the ASBH.

But Dominici, 48, does not intend to stop there. "I ask the institutions of the region, Mr. Ménard, mayor of Béziers, Carole Delga, president of the Occitanie region, Kleber Mesquida, president of the department ... to audit SASP Béziers. There is a duty of transparency with you, "he said.

He also questioned "the validity of the DNACG" (National Directorate of Aid and Management Control, Editor's note) and the president of the League Paul Goze but promised to go "to the end".

"I hope we win together," said Dominici.

© 2020 AFP