Biarritz Olympique plays at the Aguilera stadium -
GAIZKA IROZ / AFP
Third in Pro D2, the Biarritz Olympique club could well leave the Basque Country within a year.
Angry with the town hall, the president of the Basque club plans to relocate his team.
The Lille metropolis has applied to eventually host one of the historic French rugby clubs.
On paper, the story seems crazy, however, in September 2022, the famous club Biarritz Olympique, current 3rd in Pro D2, could well move to Lille.
If the parties concerned do not want to express themselves officially on the subject, Jean-Baptiste Aldigé, the president of the Basque club, has come to meet Damien Castelain, the president of the MEL, this Monday, March 15 in the North.
The political decision-makers in particular gave the boss of the BO a visit to the facilities of the Stadium Lille Métropole which could one day host the matches of the Basque club.
But how did we get there?
And why the Biarritz club, installed 1,000 kilometers from Lille, would be ready to move to the North?
An open conflict between the club and the town hall of Biarritz
To understand it, we have to go back a month.
On February 16, the mayor of Biarritz renounced a project to extend the Aguilera stadium ardently desired by Jean-Baptiste Aldigé and the club's shareholders to develop the BO.
The project, estimated at several tens of millions of euros, is considered much too expensive by the Basque municipality as Maider Arosteguy, the mayor of Biarriz, declared at the time.
“In a period of the coronavirus crisis, it is out of the question to deviate from our commitments and spend tens of millions of euros for a private company, even if it is our favorite club
.
Professional rugby brings us into gigantic expenses, which are close to the financial needs of football and a community of 25,000 inhabitants can no longer keep up financially
”
Three cities ready to welcome the BO
Stung, the president of the BO spreads the next day on the airwaves of
RMC
in the Moscato Show.
The 36-year-old businessman, at the helm of the club since 2018, then declared that he was ready to relocate the BO to give it much more sporting and economic ambitions.
Earthquake in the world of rugby, amazement among Basque fans but the message did not fall on deaf ears.
Immediately, Lille but also San Sebastian (Spain) and a city in the South-East came to the information.
And if the capital of Flanders is the most geographically distant from the Basque Country, its status as a large metropolis located at the crossroads of Europe gives it serious advantages.
Host territory for the semi-finals of the top 14 this year and six matches of the 2023 World Cup, the Lille metropolis has never had a pro rugby club.
Three options on the table
It remains to be seen how legally the BO could change location while keeping its name.
Three options are on the table.
The first would consist in merging the amateur association of the Biarritz club, which has the entry license number of the senior team, with any amateur club in the North while using the Stadium as a resident stadium.
The pro club resulting from this merger would then settle in the North but another association would be recreated in Biarritz and would keep the name of the BO by starting again as Federal 1 or Federal 2.
The second, more brutal option would consist of outright relocation of the stadium.
Before the start of the season, each club must declare the name of its resident stadium.
The BO could then keep its name and just declare that the North Stadium is its resident enclosure.
Everyone moves from Biarritz to Lille and plays in the division where the Biarritz club plays.
In the Basque Country, no one could then use the name of the BO or the Aguilera stadium, owned by the Basque club, given the long-term lease that runs until 2033.
The third option, extremely hard, would lead to the outright liquidation of the BO and would lead Jean-Baptiste Aldigé to come and invest in the North to create a large rugby club.
Marcq does not want to merge with the BO
In the Lille metropolis, the preferred idea would be to merge the BO with the Marcq-en-Barœul club, which is currently playing in Federal 1. Except that the northern leaders are not at all of this opinion.
"
There will be no merger between Olympique Marcquois and the BO
”,
declared this Friday Olivier Gradel, president of the northern club, in the columns of
the Voix du Nord
.
A media release that was not at all appreciated on the side of the Basque coast where we now give ourselves time for reflection.
One thing is certain: if the BO arrives in Lille, it will not be before September 2022. Until then, the negotiations will continue and perhaps lead to one of the biggest surprises of recent years in the world of the Ovalie.
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