The Americans are continuing to establish themselves in Ligue 1: the BlueCo consortium, which bought Chelsea last year, took control of Strasbourg on Thursday, June 22, while leaving the emblematic president of Racing, Marc Keller, in office.
“This agreement marks a new chapter in the history of Racing as the consortium is committed to accelerating sustainable investments in the growth of the club, including in the first teams and in the Academy, in the continuity of the project implemented by Marc Keller, who will remain chairman of the club, supported by his current management team,” BlueCo said in a statement.
“BlueCo is committed to preserving the legacy of Racing and looks forward to working closely with Marc Keller and his management team to continue the excellent work done,” the statement continued.
Strasbourg becomes the fifth L1 club to go under the American flag after Marseille, Lyon, Toulouse and Le Havre. In total, more than half of the elite teams are now foreign-owned.
“It’s an important day for Racing,” said Marc Keller, who took over the Strasbourg club after filing for bankruptcy in 2012 and brought it up through the ranks of French football.
“No Affiliation”
“It’s a reflection that my shareholder friends and I have been carrying out for two years,” he continued. We have built a healthy club at all levels and well managed. Even if there was no financial emergency, we were aware that we had reached the ceiling of our model, and that if we wanted to continue to advance Racing and project it into a new dimension, we necessarily had to be accompanied by a solid structure capable of supporting our development and our ambition. “I therefore welcome the prospect of welcoming a new strategic investor, with whom we will accelerate the club’s ambition to build the Racing of tomorrow. »
Strasbourg finished 15th in L1 this season, after taking an unexpected 6th place the previous year.
BlueCo already owns Chelsea (Premier League), the Los Angeles Dodgers (MLB) baseball team, as well as shares in the Los Angeles Lakers (NBA) basketball franchise, among others.
Exasperated supporters
Fans, scalded by several periods of instability in recent decades and the club’s bankruptcy in 2011, accompanied by a descent into the 5th division, fear that Racing will become a kind of Chelsea reserve team and plunge sportily.
“The objective is to allow Racing to be even more ambitious and competitive in a world of football which has changed considerably, in particular with the massive arrival of foreign investors in many French clubs and the evolution of Ligue 1. from 20 to 18 clubs,” replies BlueCo. “Through its involvement and recognized expertise in sport, BlueCo intends to actively contribute to the development of the model put in place by Marc Keller,” the statement continued. The Racing teams could exchange advice and expertise with Chelsea and the other teams in which the members of the consortium are involved. »
For its first season after its takeover by BlueCo, Chelsea, despite significant investments, had disappointing results and finished 12th in the Premier League.