French Professional Football League wants to end AS Monaco’s privileges

Principality of Monaco, Monte-Carlo. Monaco’s football club might need to move its headquarter to France, in order to be in compliance  with new French regulation rules. (credit : Flickr/CC/lamericat)

French sport newspaper L’Équipe revealed in mid-march that the French Professional Football League ( Ligue de Football Professionnel – LFP) required Ligue 2 club AS Monaco to install its headquarters in France by June 1^st 2014 in order for the club to be in accordance with new LFP regulations.  LFP announced on Thursday March 22^nd, during a board of directors’ meeting, that from 2014 on, only “clubs which have their effective headquarters registered in France” will be eligible to participate in Ligue 1 and Ligue 2, the two French professional championships.

The change in the regulation voted will only affect one professional club: AS Monaco. The club’s headquarters are located in the principality, where taxation is much lower than in France ( for example, AS Monaco does not pay taxes on enterprises, whereas the rate is 33.3%  in France). The club is currently leader of French Ligue 2 and in track to win the 2^nd division and return to the elite championship in France, 2 years after being relegated. Russian Dmitry Rybolovlev, 119^th on Forbes Billionaires, bought the club, which was in big financial troubles at the time, in December 2011. His fortune comes from Uralkali, Russia’s largest producer of potassium fertilizer. Since acquiring the club, he has been active on the transfer market, buying Argentinian striker Lucas Ocampos   for an estimated 16 Million Euros transfer fee, and signing experienced Italian coach Claudio Ranieri. In order to be competitive in the upper-division, AS Monaco will certainly need to bring in new players during the summer transfer window. There are many rumors sending Football superstar (Rooney, Cavani, Tevez…) to “The Rock”.

The league’s decision is a serious step back in the club’s quest to compete with the mega-rich Qatari-owned PSG. The very attractive taxation rate for foreigners in Monaco ( 0%) was certainly a major asset during transfer negotiations. Will the club be able to be competitive if the new rule is applied, asks sofoot.com? It depends on the amount of money the president Rybolovlev is willing to add.

Prince Albert II of Monaco, the club’s first supporter, will certainly lobby for overturning LFP’s decision ( Flickr/CC/nrkbeta)

What’s for sure is AS Monaco’s position regarding LFP’s decision. The club is not going to make it easy for the ligue. President’s advisor Jean-Louis Campora declared on RTL radio: “There is a hidden determination to exclude us from French football, the LFP is willing to deprive us from our rights, we will ask for financial compensations.”
This is just the beginning of this saga; a wrestling match will certainly take place between LFP and AS Monaco in the next few months. Politicians will surely enter the negotiation, Prince Albert II being Monaco’s first supporter; he will undoubtedly question the French State and fight in order to keep his club’s massive and, from a personal point of view, unfair advantages.