Bafana’s Le Coq Sportif deal safe for now despite strife at French parent company

‘Everything is hunky-dory’ for deals with Bafana Bafana, Banyana Banyana and Stellenbosch FC, says company's South Africa boss

21 January 2025 - 14:17
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Bathusi Aubaas celebrates a goal for Bafana Bafana in their 5-0 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying win against Congo at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Gqeberha in October 2024. Their kit deal with Le Coq Sportif is safe for now.
Bathusi Aubaas celebrates a goal for Bafana Bafana in their 5-0 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying win against Congo at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Gqeberha in October 2024. Their kit deal with Le Coq Sportif is safe for now.
Image: Werner Hills

 

Bafana Bafana's kit sponsorship deal with the French apparel company Le Coq Sportif, which has been placed in receivership by the Paris commercial court “with a six-month observation period”, is not going to be affected until its terms ends at the end of 2025.

That assurance was made by Roger Noades, sales director of Le Coq Sportif South Africa. Noades said Bafana's sponsorship will runs its course until its expiry date on December 31 2025, because the South African division operates separately from its embattled parent company in France. 

Safa signed the five-year deal with Le Coq Sportif in the frenetic financial period at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020. Noades is adamant that the financial problems Le Coq has in France won't affect any partnerships with local teams, including Bafana, Banyana Banyana and Stellenbosch FC.

Reports internationally are Le Coq Sportif's risk of bankruptcy comes from years of losses that occurred despite obtaining loans from the Paris 2024 Olympic Organising Committee and the French state. The company is also embroiled in a legal spat with the French Rugby Federation, which is reported to be seeking 5.3m (R102m) from its former partner.

“You have to understand French law, [where] if you say they're bankrupt, their chapter 11 is something very different. South Africans don't understand [the French] chapter 11, but it is similar to restructuring a business,” Noades told TimesLIVE on Tuesday.

“Pre-Covid-19 I think the French office went out and spent millions of euros on the Olympic Games and brought fantastic coverage for the French flag. Then they had French rugby, but I think, yes, there were some outstanding payments to people. I think at the end of January they will have another important meeting and another one at the end of February.

“Le Coq Sportif was established in 1870 and it's the oldest [sports] brand in the world. The French are extremely patriotic people and there is no way they will let this brand slip globally.

“In South Africa, my licence allows me to operate independently from the French [company]. So with Le Coq Sportif SA I've got licence and I source my products from Madagascar, Mauritius, Durban and China.

“For footwear I don't get my own shoes, I don't go through the entire process. I get things through the [Le Coq] managers, but I'm an independent entity from what the French are going through.”

Noades said the South African operation of the company is in a healthy state.

“Don't get me confused with the trouble the French are going through because I've got 53 retail shops in South Africa, and in November and December I was 40% up on sales. So, I'm happy. 

“Everything is 100%. Not just [with] Safa, but also with Stellenbosch FC. Everything is hunky-dory.”

Noades said he believed there was a possible solution on the cards for the French operation's financial problems.

“I'm not allowed to tell you [about the solution yet] but I think by February the business will be bigger and stronger.”

Bafana performed remarkably in 2024, in which, among other plaudits, they won bronze at the Africa Cup of Nations in Ivory Coast and qualified for the 2025 Afcon.

Safa has a national executive committee meeting on Saturday and its partnership with the sports apparel company may be part of the agenda. 

The association's CEO Lydia Monyepao could not be reached for comment.

* This story has been edited from the original version, which indicated Le Coq Sportif's contract with Safa runs from June 2020 to December 2026, after the incorrect information was initially provided to TimesLIVE. The story has been corrected to reflect the deal runs from March 1 2020 to December 31 2025, and does not incorporate the 2026 World Cup.


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