“We took a first slap on Christmas Day, and here is the second Monday night.” Xavier Ric, the general manager of CA Brive is not going all the way. The announcements of Jean Castex, Prime Minister, were not good news for the leader of the Corrèze club. The head of government has indeed indicated that “large gatherings will be limited to a maximum of 2,000 people indoors and 5,000 outdoors. “ This protocol is currently valid until January 23.
Subscribers and partners in priority
For CA Brive, which will receive twice until January 23: a match against Bordeaux-Bègles on January 8 for the 15th day of the Top 14, and a match against the Section Paloise on the weekend of 13- January 14-15 for the third day of the Challenge Cup. The losses are worrying for the moment, but there will be some, assures, annoyed, Xavier Ric. “We had started to open our ticket office for the match against Bordeaux, so we will have to reimburse those who have taken seats for the general public ”
Because, like last year, Brive will have to prioritize those who can enter the Stadium. Subscribers and partners will be the first. “We hope to be able to bring them all in “ at the stadium for the match against Bordeaux reports the CEO of CAB. “I take this opportunity to thank our teams who had to react in the middle of the Christmas dinner on Saturday and who are still mobilized to organize the reception in Bordeaux” underlines, in solidarity, Xavier Ric.
“If we play the derby quickly, it would be catastrophic”
Another fear: that of a derby which is played again quickly. This would only be possible in the event of a postponement of a day, such as that scheduled in Edinburgh in the Challenge Cup on January 21, in an area of the world largely affected by the coronavirus. “If we had to play the derby quickly, it would be catastrophic” underlines Xavier Ric, “because we should reimburse all those who took places and we would not have all our supporters behind us“. For the moment, no date or postponement is current. The club awaits during this time the decree to act with hospitality, these premium tickets including other services than the traditional ticket to see the match.
Bad news, but state aid?
The National Rugby League, meeting as a steering committee this Wednesday evening, should discuss these announcements. This Tuesday, she has already expressed her fears, explaining that “this new measure, coupled with restrictions on the sale of drinks and food in stadiums, will have heavy economic repercussions “, through the voice of its director Emmanuel Eschalier.
“This is bad news” explains Jean-François Brocard, lecturer in economics at the Center for Law and Economics of Sport. “but I think there is a good chance that the clubs will be helped in the future, by a solidarity fund and ticketing compensations”. In total, for the CAB, apart from the derby, there are still 4,000 fewer places on average. If he is optimistic, Jean-François Brocard nevertheless notes that these situations (behind closed doors, gauges) can be dangerous. “The clubs are unable to return to normalcy, and partners can start to think that they can live without pro rugby.”
In the meantime, there is one less concern on the table of Xavier Ric and Simon Gilham: the vaccination pass, mandatory from January 15 for all athletes. “They are all vaccinated” assures Xavier Ric, the managing director.