By Le Figaro
Published
,
Update
Laurent Travers, the future president of Racing 92 who will succeed Jacky Lorenzetti. Francois Bouchon/Le Figaro
The Altosequan president confirmed to the Figaro that he plans to return to the Yves-du-Manoir stadium, rather than relocating his matches to the provinces when the Arena hosts shows.
During the long cross interview that they granted this Wednesday to the Figaro Jacky Lorenzetti and Laurent Travers, respectively president and manager of Racing 92, have confirmed that they plan to return to play in Colombes in the future, rather than relocating matches (to Le Havre or Lens in particular), when their Paris La Defense Arena is taken for shows. “The economic model of Racing 92 goes through the Arena. We need, to run this big beast, to organize a minimum of shows. Unfortunately, that forces us to relocate matches to maintain this economic balance. Otherwise, we are dead. We are aware that this is not an advantage for our team, but there are sacrifices to be made, explains Jacky Lorenzetti.
And to add: In the future, we will have to relocate even more: 4, 5, even 6 games per season. Rather than going to Le Havre or Lens, which receive us very well but which pose a problem for our partners and our supporters, we wondered if we could not return to play these matches in Colombes.
“Make a beautiful stadium with 15,000 seats and receptions”
The Altosequan president specifies that “Discussions are underway in this direction with the departmental council of Hauts-de-Seine and the mayor of Colombes to make a beautiful stadium with 15,000 seats and receptions. They are listening, they want to perpetuate the installations. If we could do that, it would be awesome…”
And Laurent Travers, who will leave his post as manager next season (replaced by Stuart Lancaster) to become club president, to pursue: “You have to understand that, if we are lucky enough to have such a workforce, such infrastructure, it is thanks to our financial balance. However, in rugby, it is not simple. To have the opportunity to play in the Arena, even if you have to relocate 5 or even 10 games, you have to accept it. But having a second home that you can identify with would be more positive.” One of the priorities for Jacky Lorenzetti is to “regenerate Colombes to rebalance the number of matches played at the Arena”.