TOULOUSE OLYMPIQUE will bounce into this year’s campaign with an air of confidence thanks to solid commercial backing from businesses in France’s third-largest city.
The club have trimmed several senior salaries from the playing roster and banked a record 1.8m euros (£1.5 million) in corporate income.
Like all sports in Toulouse, Olympique have to deal with a 20 percent drop in local authority financial support, but director of Sport Cedric Garcia believes it will have minimal impact.
“Unlike other clubs, the civic support is not a major proportion of our income,” he said.
“And we are still in discussions about the actual amounts.
“On the other side of the coin, our chairman Olivier Dubois is an astute and well-connected businessman in the city and we have seen a significant increase in our commercial activities.
“Running a professional Rugby League club is a challenge financially, we can see this from the top of Super League to the bottom of League One, but we are in good shape.
“The many challenges we have faced in our history, and especially the last 15 years in our attempts to climb the ladder in the UK-based competition, have given us the experience and expertise to deal with difficulties.”
