http://web.icenetwork.com/news/2016/11/07/208026636
Really revealing interview with Eric Bompard, the founder of the clothing brand that sponsored the event for some 17 years (and 11 as the sole sponsor).
Wow, FFSG really blew it! It sounded like Eric Bompard was a committed sponsor but just were tired of being neglected. Good thing Gailhaguet isn't ISU president -- can you imagine the damage he do to much more major sponsors?
Really revealing interview with Eric Bompard, the founder of the clothing brand that sponsored the event for some 17 years (and 11 as the sole sponsor).
Bompard: In 2014, the Trophée was forced to leave Paris, as the arena was undergoing major construction. We moved to Bordeaux. We understood and accepted (it). The arena was not ready on time, and it was empty. Then in 2015, they said it would be held in Bordeaux again, although the Paris arena had reopened. The competition was cancelled halfway (through), after the terrorist attacks in Paris -- except all the funds we had given were not cancelled at all! None of it came back to us.
Throughout last spring, we tried to figure out whether the Trophée would take place at all in 2016, after these two years. We inquired with the French federation. I suppose that people then were focusing on the ISU elections (where Didier Gailhaguet, the president of the French Federation of Ice Sports, was one of the candidates). Nothing came back. We wrote at the start of the summer to say that it was more than time for us to make our own decision and commitment. We got no answer. We couldn't wait any longer, so I decided that we had done our time.
Icenetwork: So you won't sponsor skating anymore?
Bompard: Everything has to come to an end, I suppose. I have no regrets, except the process itself. The pain won't last, but all this could have happened in a much better way.
It's not worth doing all we did to be left out the way we were. Yet don't get mistaken: I really hope that the Grand Prix of France meets with great success. Such a competition is really difficult to organize, and I do hope that it is a real success for everyone. It won't be us anymore, but I may switch my TV set to see the event.
It's tough to pass on after something you've loved with passion. We've done it, and we've done it well. The stitches are still quite new -- now we need time to put order into our files and put them aside.
Wow, FFSG really blew it! It sounded like Eric Bompard was a committed sponsor but just were tired of being neglected. Good thing Gailhaguet isn't ISU president -- can you imagine the damage he do to much more major sponsors?