Flog it: Let the 777 Partners jumble sale commence
777 Partners' shares in Red Star FC are likely to be sold this week in a public auction to take place in New York on Friday morning.
“Our colours are worth more than a handful of dollars,” a tifo from Red Star supporters reads during the final match of the season. An ongoing three-year long battle for the soul of the club still rages on, but the latest update from over the Atlantic ocean could see a major change by the end of this week.
Imagine an episode of Storage Wars. A group of eager-eyed buyers surround an abandoned garage, left long ago by the likes of Josh Wander and Steve Pasko as they chase their debts and legal troubles elsewhere.
They have paid enough until now for the upkeep of the storage facility, but are now being forced to auction off their possessions. The site manager comes along with heavy metal pliers to force off the lock of the garage door, and up comes the shutter to reveal the remaining shares in Genoa CFC, Sevilla, Standard de Liège, Red Star, Vasco da Gama, and Hertha Berlin. Let the bidding commence.
They are scenes that wouldn’t go amiss at an auction house in Saint-Ouen’s flea market. But the reality instead is that a public auction is set take place at the offices of Wickersham & Taft LLP in New York. According to a report from Josimar, all the shares of 777 Partners’ former football clubs are up for sale for buyers who will either attend in person, or online over Zoom.
There is little left of 777 Partners as a business. Hollowed-out offices, no staff, with debts and judgements rising and heading towards an unavoidable bankruptcy. US regulators found a settlement with A-CAP (the de-facto company now in control of the club as 777’s creditors) which now allows the sell-off to commence.
In Saint-Ouen however, Red Star FC are acting as though nothing is happening. The club announced that they had got the green-light from French football’s financial watchdog (DNCG) to proceed with their summer plans.
There has been somewhat of a summer exodus of players. Promotion heroes Loïc Kouagba, Fodé Doucouré, Blondon Meyapya and Fred Dembi all departed the club on the same day. They were joined by Aliou Badji, Pepe Bonet, Alioune Fall and Bissenty Mendy. France U21 goalkeeper Robin Risser also returned to Strasbourg following the end of his loan from the BlueCo club.
Hacène Benali has extended his contract with the club, and the first signing of the summer has arrived in the form of Luxembourg’s player of the season Guillaume Trani (27) - an interesting profile and a natural scorer. Yet, if Red Star are to make it back to back survival campaigns, there is still a lot of work to do.
Club president Patrice Haddad has still not been fully held to account. He labelled his first meeting with Josh Wander as one of the “best human experiences” of his life, and as late as last Summer was still peddling the myth that the club’s success was down to 777 Partners. Where will the consequences of his actions in April 2022 end?
Red Star will now potentially be flogged at an auction in New York on Friday, to buyers that we are not yet aware of nor have had any consultation with supporters. The spark of hope is that Red Star supporters are still fighting for what is right:
”The fight continues. Our colours our worth more than a handful of dollars” - Tifo from Red Star Fans during the final game of the Ligue 2 season vs Dunkerque. (Photo Credit: Tribune Rino Della Negra & Red Star Fans)
