for some professional clubs there are no small profits

They touched the grisbi and badly took it from them. After the slow qualification of their team on the ground (victory on penalties in the 32nd finals of the Coupe de France), Sunday, January 5, the OM leaders did not leave their share of revenue to their opponent in day, Trelissac, amateur club playing in National 2, as custom however wants. A decision that sparked a wave of outrage, more or less justified.

"OM lacked elegance (…) They left with 140,000 euros, or around 10% of our budget, protested the day after the meeting, the president of Trélissac, Fabrice Faure, in the columns of the Parisian. No one came to explain to me the reason for this choice. I discovered that Marseille was taking money from the sheet that leaders must fill out after the meeting. In the bottom right, it simply said that Marseille was taking its share. "

In the Coupe de France, tradition has it that a professional club leaves its share of revenue linked to ticketing to the amateur club that receives it. A tradition beaten for several years, professional clubs assuming more and more collect the amount due to them, evoking pell-mell their bloodless finances, the cost of travel or … the attitude of their opponents.

A trip to 65,000 euros

As early as Sunday evening, the OM had split a press release to justify its approach and try to deflate the emerging controversy. "The club's policy has often been to leave the recipe when OM are welcomed in particularly rural stadiums where capacity is low".

🔵 Official press release

– OM_Officiel (@Olympique de Marseille)

OM leaders have argued that the two teams had moved into a 13,000-seat stadium – the match had been relocated to Limoges – with tickets sold between 20 and 35 euros. Total revenue amounted to almost 400,000 euros before deduction of organizational costs, estimated at 280,000 euros by Trélissac.

"Thanks to the fact of hosting the OM, the stadium was full and, moreover, mainly welcomed Marseille supporters, who were in the majority", also justified the Marseille club. Thus, the Ligue 1 club considered " fair " to share this recipe, stating in passing that the cost of his trip was "65 k €".

"Pitiful" behavior

An explanation that did not convince the Dordogne club as well as the mayor of the city who also went there in his little press release to denounce the behavior "Pitiful" of OM.

Press release from Francis Colbac, Mayor of Trélissac #CoupedeFrance #TFCOM @TrelissacFC @lequipe @ OM_Officiel… https://t.co/2gYuzztbLI

– VilleTrelissac (@City of Trélissac)

"I don't hear these excuses, replied Fabrice Faure. In 2016, we hosted the Marseillais at the Chaban-Delmas stadium in Bordeaux, in front of almost 17,000 people, i.e. more people. Vincent Labrune (then president of the OM) had only paid the travel expenses and left the rest. That, I totally understand. "

In yet another press release published on Monday, Fabrice Faure finally invited OM to “Donate its share of the proceeds to the Dordogne Football District, an organization managed by volunteers, serving amateur football in a rural area, of which the Trélissac Football Club is a part. " A request, for now, remained a dead letter.

Because in reality, nothing obliges a professional club to give its share to the amateur club it faces. The 2019-2020 French Cup regulations provides in its annex IV (article VI), in addition to the sports bonuses, that the ticketing revenue is distributed "Equally" between clubs after deduction of VAT (reduced rate of 5.5% applicable to sports meetings) and organization costs of the receiving club (25% of revenue).

A tradition beaten in breach

This weekend, Lille and Nîmes also decided to keep the revenue linked to the ticket office while the two professional clubs faced respectively Raon-l'Etape and Tours, residents of National 3, without causing the same stir as the media club Marseille .

The Lille leaders had explained in recent years that they preferred to return this money to amateur clubs in their region.

In 2018, Nantes had refused to sacrifice to custom when it qualified for Senlis (N3) in the 32nd final. Last year, the Canaries had also kept their share of ticketing for the quarter won (2-0) against Vitré (N2), who had refused their offer to play the match at Beaujoire and preferred to receive at Laval.

Nîmes, already, had wanted to do half and half after their glorious elimination in 32nd last year (0-3) against the club Lyon-Duchère, playing in National. In 16th, Lille had also kept the part which was due to it against Sète (N2), which had found the process "Not very elegant". Unless there is a change in the regulations, this gentleman’s agreement remains suspended at the goodwill of professional clubs. The leaders of Granville, very happy to receive the Marseille club in the next round, are warned: OM will not necessarily give them gifts.