The 2023-2024 football season is coming to an end and a long ordeal will soon come to an end for Standard. Or not completely. The club is in dire straits from a sporting point of view, but off the field the concerns are even greater. What’s going on at Sclessin with owner 777 Partners as a poisoned gift?
Standard’s free fall has been going on for a while. It is a bad season in terms of sport, but also in terms of extra sport, it does not smell too fresh on the banks of the Maas.
2 years ago, chairman Bruno Venanzi sold his club to 777 Partners, an American investment fund. Venanzi had become persona non grata among Standard’s supporters and under his rule the accounts did not look too good.
But now, 2 years after the arrival of the Americans, the noose seems to be tightening even more. 777 Partners is reportedly piling up debt and facing multiple lawsuits.
At Sclessin the payment of wages regularly takes a while and in the US there is even talk of fraud.
Strong accusations are being made in the US about 777: they speak bluntly about fraud and about a house of cards that is about to collapse.
Dries Bervoet (De Tijd)
“It has always been unclear to me who they were and what they did,” says Dries Bervoet, journalist at De Tijd, in Sporza Daily about 777 Partners. “But a lot has changed in that area in recent days.”
An American lender has filed a claim against 777. “Strong accusations are being made: they speak bluntly about fraud and about a house of cards that is about to collapse. They are going full steam ahead against 777.”
777 Partners bought Standard for next to nothing at the time because it was already in dire straits at the time. “Standard was distressed and therefore easy and cheap.”
Standard has taken hit after hit this season.
For sale again?
Standard is not the only club in the 777 Partners portfolio. The investment fund also has tentacles in Italy, Spain and Germany. What is their vision?
“They do cross-financing. By joining clubs with debts, they want to sell other parts of their business (such as life insurance) to the football fans of those clubs.”
“In this way, they would generate additional income and cash flow to finance the debts they have incurred. However, that model does not appear to work.”
“777 is having great difficulty repaying the debts incurred. The little cash flow is immediately used to fill the holes, but the business is not sustainable.”
777 is having great difficulty repaying its debts. Their model doesn’t work.
Dries Bervoet (De Tijd)
Ex-chairman Venanzi has now gone to court. He is still waiting for money from the acquisition as 777 Partners has missed payment deadlines.
According to our interlocutors, Venanzi would not want to buy back Standard, but he does want to put pressure on Standard to be put on the market. It is rumored that local investors are ready to take control of the club again.
But the question remains how and when Standard can free itself from this dead-end street.
Will it, like Anderlecht, that other traditional club, get out of its malaise? Why did the club receive a license despite all the financial troubles? And why do Standard’s supporters still remain relatively quiet?
You will also get an answer to those questions in our episode of Sporza Daily.
