It is a threat that makes football fans and FC Sochaux supporters tremble. According to the newspaper The Team, the FCSM would threaten not to play Bonal again beyond April 1 2022 if no agreement is reached by this Thursday, March 31. At the heart of the problem: the conditions for renewing the Bonal stadium partnership.
Interviewed in the program 100% FCSM of France Bleu Belfort Montbéliard this Monday, the two protagonists, Charles Demouge, president of PMA (Pays de Montbéliard Agglomeration) and Samuel Laurent, general manager of the FCSM, presented their arguments, without however arriving to agree. The only certainty is that the club should continue to play at the Bonal stadium, whatever the differences between the two parties.
Football is a collective game – Charles Demouge
On the antenna of France Bleu Belfort Montbéliard, Charles Demouge explains that it is about an ongoing negotiation about the conditions for renewing the Bonal stadium partnership. The agglomeration wishes to pass on charges to its tenant (the FCSM), which the Sochaux club refuses, which considers this new agreement too financially disadvantageous.
But he assures that he has no never was there any question of threatening the club to play elsewhere : ” I told you that football is a team game and that we are collective. Me, I never said that we had to go play outside. You still do not see PMA closing the doors of the Bonal stadium on the evening of the match against Nancy. No, but we’re kidding. We are in total delirium.”
A Schoolyard Debate – Samuel Laurent
Opposite, Samuel Laurent explains that for his part, there is no threat of going to play elsewhere. He wonders about the risk of playing on a field when no agreement has been signed.
“I’m not brandishing something saying if you don’t bend, then I’m going to relocate somewhere else. It would be a terrible logistical problem for us. It would be especially heartbreaking for the supporters. We are having our best season for 7 years. It would be terrible to have to play the matches away“.
On the other hand, he explains that there are technical constraints to be respected: “There is a particular legal constraint at league level. If we did not have a stadium agreement, it is possible that the league considers that on the day of the match, the stadium is not approved”
Additional tensions
Added to this bone of contention are other points of tension such as the financing of a training ground and the location of a future development centre. At the same time, the two presidents (of the PMA and the FCSM) reproach each other for inappropriate remarks during these negotiations.