Chapter II: Sports companies

Any sports association affiliated to a sports federation which habitually takes part in the organisation of sporting events for which a fee is charged and which generates revenue in excess of a threshold set by decree by the Conseil d’Etat or which employs sportsmen and sportswomen whose total remuneration exceeds a figure set by decree by the Conseil d’Etat, constitutes a commercial company subject to the Commercial Code for the…

The sports company takes the form : 1° either a limited liability company with only one shareholder, known as a “limited liability single-member sports company” (entreprise unipersonnelle sportive à responsabilité limitée); or 2° Or a société anonyme with a sporting object; 3° Or a professional sports limited company; 4° or a limited liability company; 5° or a public limited company; 6° or a société par actions simplifiée ; 7° or…

The articles of association of the companies referred to in 1° to 3° of article L. 122-2 and formed by sports associations comply with standard articles of association defined by decree in the Conseil d’Etat.

Any sports association that meets at least one of the criteria set out in the first paragraph of Article L. 122-1 constitutes a sports company within one year of the date on which it meets this condition. Any sports association which does not comply with the provisions of the first paragraph shall be excluded from competitions organised by sports federations.

The capital of a société anonyme à objet sportif is made up of registered shares. However, it may consist of bearer shares if the company wishes to make a public offer of its shares other than the offers mentioned in 1° or 2° of article L. 411-2 of the French Monetary and Financial Code or article L. 411-2-1 of the same code, or to have its shares admitted to trading…

The sports association must hold at least one third of the share capital and voting rights at the general meeting of the limited company with a sporting object that it has created. Except in the case of inheritance, liquidation of community property between spouses or where the equity securities of the company concerned are traded on a financial instruments market, the administrative authority may oppose any transfer of securities conferring…

The same private individual is prohibited from: 1° To exclusively or jointly control several sports companies whose corporate purpose relates to the same discipline or to exercise significant influence over them, within the meaning ofarticle L. 233-17-2 of the French Commercial Code; 2° Being a director of more than one sports company whose corporate purpose relates to the same sport; 3° Solely or jointly controlling a sports company or exercising…

With a view to the issue or sale to the public of financial instruments giving access to capital or voting rights, the sports companies referred to in article L. 122-2 are required to include in the document provided for in IV of article L. 412-1 of the Monetary and Financial Code information relating to their plans to develop sports activities and acquire assets intended to strengthen their stability and sustainability,…

Any private individual who exclusively or jointly controls a sports company or exercises significant influence over it, within the meaning ofArticle L.233-17-2 of the French Commercial Code, is prohibited from: 1° To grant a loan to another sports company if its corporate purpose relates to the same sporting discipline; 2° To act as guarantor for such a sports company or to provide it with a guarantee. Any natural person, as…

The profits, within the meaning of Article L. 232-11 of the French Commercial Code, of single-member limited sports companies and public limited sports companies are allocated to the constitution of reserves which may not give rise to any distribution. As an exception to the provisions of the first paragraph, sociétés anonymes with a sporting object may distribute their profits to shareholders if shares in the company have been offered to…