Zapping Goal! Football club ASSE: Adao Carvalho, third shareholder of the Greens, breaks the silence
A candidate for the takeover of ASSE, Prince Norodom Ravichak had explained his project in an interview with RFI, and it was not lacking in ambition, a priori. “I am not coming to carry out a financial transaction,” he had promised. I want to invest in the long term and take care of ASSE. I will provide sufficient resources to achieve these ambitions and allow Saint Etienne to regain its splendor. Beyond that, I also want to promote French football and Ligue 1 in Asia by highlighting ASSE. We will also help promote the city of Saint Etienne and its region abroad. My ambition for Saint Etienne is national and international ”.
He convinced a large majority of supporters …
His goal: to arrive at the head of ASSE this winter, in order to recruit for the January Mercato to strengthen the team and ensure the maintenance, before targeting the Top 5-6 from next season, supported by several Chinese investors. . A project and a speech which, obviously, seduced the supporters of Saint-Etienne, as evidenced by a survey carried out by the EVECT site. To the question “which buyout plan for ASSE appeals to you the most? », Internet users voted 85% for Norodom Ravichak, the local project, led by Olivier Markarian, obtaining only 13.4% of the votes, and the American investment fund, Terrapin Partners, gathering only 1.5% of the votes.
… but not KPMG
However, unlike the other two projects, Ravichak did not have the green light from KPMG to access the data room. A press release from the JPMA Conseil agency (in which we find the former journalist Patrick Chêne), mandated by ASSE, made it clear that the prince’s media release had not been well received, confidentiality clause obliges in the club sale dossier … And the following days, several articles flourished on the project. Some have been able to throw trouble on the relations maintained by Ravichak with Nasser Al-Khelaïfi, the president of the PSG, and on the partners who accompany him. But also an article, in the Progress, which made the front page of the regional daily last Tuesday, where we could read that Ravichak had approached Jean-Michel Aulas two years ago to try to create a partnership with the academy of OL. A few days before the derby, this information, which came from the Lyon branch of Progress, could be interpreted in several ways. Some see it as an attempt at destabilization orchestrated by Aulas in person, others see it rather as another intervention, more “Stéphane”, aimed at discrediting the Cambodian project, in order, perhaps, to serve other interests … Still, the prince’s side, we understood that the project was not unanimous. And the idea of throwing in the towel would even start to gain ground.
to summarize
Ambitions, development of the club in Asia … Prince Ravichak launched his seduction operation in mid-September. But his media release, the origin of his funds and his relationships seem to harm him. Still not authorized to enter the data room, he would consider withdrawing his candidacy.