La Berrichonne de Châteauroux is now under the Saudi flag.
Prince Abdallah ben Moussaed and the United World Group confirmed on Tuesday March 9 the takeover of the Castelroussin club.
Ultimately, the new owner wants to bring the current red lantern of Ligue 2 back into the elite.
The club therefore becomes the fifth club in the princely fold, which includes Sheffield United in the Premier League (in England), but also Beerschot (in Belgium), Kerala United (Indian D2) or Al-Hilal United (Emirati D2).
𝗟𝗮 𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗲̀𝗺𝗲 𝗲́𝘁𝗼𝗶𝗹𝗲 for the @UnitedWorldSA group!
🌟
🏴 @SheffieldUnited
🇧🇪 @KBeerschotva
🇦🇪 @AlHilal_United
🇮🇳 @KeralaUnitedFC
🇫🇷 @LaBerrichonne pic.twitter.com/q1d9D8JNvY
- La Berrichonne de Châteauroux (@LaBerrichonne) March 9, 2021
The United World Group justifies a "logical" investment.
France "is today one of the top five leagues in the world which attracts hundreds of millions of spectators around the world," wrote the group based in Switzerland in a statement released by the club.
"More importantly, France has shaped its reputation as one of the biggest, if not the biggest 'football talent factory' in the entire world," United World continues, hailing the "historic value" of the Berrichonne. , which is celebrating its 105th anniversary this year.
United World is proud to add @LaBerrichonne to its portfolio of clubs 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 @ SheffieldUnited @kbeerschotva @Alhilal_United @KeralaUnitedFC @ Saudi49er @michel_denisot @GilAverous @SUFCArabic @BeerschotArabic @SUFCTwitter @Beers.chotTurk.com pic
- UNITED WORLD (@UnitedWorldSA) March 9, 2021
If the amount disbursed remains secret, the prince confirmed last week to AFP that it was much higher than the 2.8 million euros mentioned in several media.
"When we buy a club, we have several objectives: to raise the level of the club, the facilities and the level of the team. The most important thing is to do it over time," the prince told AFP on Sunday, 56 years old.
The Saudi mogul, who made his fortune in the paper industry, has the means to fulfill his ambitions, as the trajectories of Sheffield United and Beerschot prove.
With his fortune valued at more than 200 million euros, he made the English club, bought in 2013, climb from the third division to the Premier League.
In Antwerp, Beerschot also joined the elite, while the club played at the second Belgian level.
A strategy similar to the City Group
Around Sheffield, now Premier League red lanterns after a successful season last year, the prince has created United World Group, a network of clubs of different levels, like the Emirati City Football Group, grouped behind his Manchester City flagship.
The idea, in Manchester as in Geneva, where the headquarters of the United World Group is located, is to create synergies between the clubs, in marketing, the search for sponsors or even training, by using the less upscale clubs such as nurseries for player development.
The most successful example of this "multinational" of clubs is undoubtedly the case of the City Football Group
Holding company created by Sheikh Mansour, an influential member of the royal family of Abu Dhabi, which owns Manchester City and 9 other clubs in worldwide.
pic.twitter.com/sGGhg9AYYQ
- Football Club Geopolitics (@FCGeopolitics) March 9, 2021
"I am happy that we own clubs from three of the four countries that reached the last semi-finals of the World Cup [England, Belgium and France, Editor's note]. And among 44 main players, 4 or 5 come from the academies of these clubs ", welcomed Abdallah Ben Moussaed.
Immediate change
To restore the image of the Berrichonne and make it "a competitive club", United World intends "to strengthen the link between the training center and the first team".
It could also wipe out the current sports coaching.
If the club has not yet officially confirmed the future role of Michel Denisot [who had already chaired the club in the 1990s and 2000s], he nevertheless posted a photo of the former president of the Berrichonne, accompanied by the former castelroussin leader Patrick Trotignon and United World CEO Abdallah Al-Ghamdi.
According to L'Équipe, Michel Denisot could be entrusted with the reins of the club, while Patrick Trotignon would take over general management, as during the club's glorious years at the end of the 1990s.
From a sporting standpoint, the bar will have to be straightened out quickly.
Last in Ligue 2, Châteauroux seems promised relegation to National 1 (3rd division) at the end of this season, after four years spent in L2.
Benoit Cauet seems threatened and the training was also canceled Tuesday morning.
His successor must in any case push the Berrichons to the exploit: they have only ten days to try to save themselves.
"We have seen that there is a possibility of relegation, but we have the possibility of recovering quickly, and in a few years, we will be at the highest level in France", hopes Prince Moussaed, a fan of Michel Platini who says follow French football since his childhood.
With AFP
The summary of the week
France 24 invites you to come back to the news that marked the week
I subscribe
Take international news everywhere with you!
Download the France 24 application
google-play-badge_FR