Ligue 1: "Confirmation from the bank for payment (to RC Lens) within 15 days" (G. Martel)

"I went to Baku (Azerbaijan) in the last 48 hours because the payment of €4m expected by our shareholders for October has not been honoured in full (only €1.5m of the amount has been paid). I needed confirmation that the guarantee granted by the Bank of Azerbaijan can be exercised and honoured," said Gervais Martel, president of RC Lens (Ligue 1) on 05/11/2014.

"I received all necessary confirmations from the bank that there are fully aware of its obligations, and that the payment (of €2.5m) would occur in the next two weeks, as provided the text of the warranty," said Gervais Martel on the RC Lens website. The club could not recruit during the 2014 summer transfer window due to a temporary ban on recruitment issued against RC Lens by the DNCG (French National Directorate of Management Control), pending completion of pledged payments by Hafiz Mammadov, the majority shareholder the club, including the €4m payment that was originally expected no later than October 2014.

• Only €1.5m of the promised €4m has been paid to date by Hafiz Mammadov.
• The Bank of Azerbaijan guarantees the…