Nissa Rugby’s promotion to Pro D2 confirmed, the five-point deduction overturned
After some days of anguish, Nice’s shareholders were able to raise the some of €4.6 million deposit required to secure the club’s place in Pro D2. The FFR’s Appeals Committee also overturned the five-point deduction, now replacing it with a two-point suspended penalty.
After a July spent fearing the end of top-level rugby in Nice, after a month wondering who was bluffing and who truly wanted to save the club, the Nissa Rugby management club and their 120 employees can breathe a sigh of rest. Following the hearing held today this Friday morning, the FFR Appeals Commission ruled that the financial information that was presented by the Nice club allowed it to avoid the administrative relegation imposed on July 25th 2026.
To secure out the budget for the next season, approximately two million euros were needed for next season tournament, a shortfall for which Éric Ciotti, the mayor of Nice, and Jean-Baptiste Aldigé, the outgoing club president (who is poised to reclaim the presidency at the next general assembly), were passing the buck. In Aldigé’s view, this money roughly corresponded to the lost revenue—estimated at €1.5 million per season, resulting from a temporary 1,400-seat hospitality stand, complete with lounges and suites, promised by former mayor Christian Estrosi and it was rejected by his successor, Éric Ciotti. According to the sources, Ciotti had pledged to make up on the revenue loss while awaiting the construction of the brand-new stadium to be completed. A dialogue of the deaf ensued, punctuated by letters of varying degrees of constructiveness, ultimatums, and warnings to the club shareholder, alleging that a enigmatic potential buyer had emerged.
As we reported on last Sunday, the main shareholder, the Sport Inside Europe (SIE), has agreed to guarantee the budget for the next season competitions up to the €4.6 million expected by the A2R (the Rugby Regulatory Authority, formerly the DNACG). The importance of the phone call on the previous day between Mayor Éric Ciotti and Louis–Vincent Gave, a key supporter of SIE, is undeniable. It was following this conversation that a mutually agreeable solution was reached that day.
While the city council will not have to inject this additional money, it has, is because according to our information, committed to the shareholder is to deliver a permanent stand with approximately 4,000 seats stadium within two years, which would be integrated into the architecture of the future 12,000-seat stadium. This stadium would only be completed if the club were promoted to the Top 14 level. Equipped with lounges and suites, this stand would resolve the issue of hospitality arrangements.
The registration of the €4.6 million financial guarantee puts an end to the uncertainty surrounding on Thursday, August 27th. That evening, Biarritz will indeed host Nice, the club of their former president, for match opening of the Pro D2 season. The end of this suspense compels us to spare a thought for Stade Montois and its fans supporters, who must have believed in the possibility of being reinstated.
Behind this crucial battle, Nissa Rugby was fighting another. In the original ruling, the club had also been penalized with a five-point deduction at the starting of the next season and a €40,000 fine. The club contested ” the application of three different sanctions based on a single factual basis (…) each being merely the accounting reflection of the other.” The club’s management argued that the issuance of the financial guarantee would be eliminate all the sanctions simultaneously.
In support of this justification, the club asserted that the characterization of the opening budget as “inconsistent and/or implausible” was unfounded, precisely because, once the issue of the deposit was resolved, the original budget presented would remain virtually identical to the one submitted on June 30th. Which the FFR Appeals Committee decided to overturn the five-point deduction. Instead, the Nice club was given a suspended two-point deduction.
