Since January 13, the best African national teams have been competing in Ivory Coast for the African Cup of Nations (CAN) and each time a shot hits the post, the impact resonates in a unique way in Soliers , near Caen. “We watched Morocco’s first match together and it’s a real pride to see our sidelines and our goals,” smiles Thibault Viguerie, general director of Metalu Plast. The Calvados company equips the six Ivorian stadiums, as well as 24 training grounds.
The first contacts date back about a year and a half. The French leader in sports equipment for professionals listens to the specific requests of the organizer and is working on the call for tenders “in a very competitive context with Italians, Chinese, Turks, another French company… Seven to eight others societies”. Metalu Plast has a certain foothold in North Africa, having for example provided the goals and the sidelines for Moroccan first division stadiums. And Thibault Viguerie added: “We also had an international card after having manufactured the sidelines for the 2018 World Cup in Russia”.
Other sporting events in the viewfinder
Despite validation times longer than expected, the Calvados company wins. Its best football goals and benches for staff and substitutes are sent to Ivory Coast. Modular goals and fences complete the order. A showcase of choice as Metalu Plast concentrates its development efforts on export, particularly in Africa, “but also on the American continent, the United States in particular, for multi-sport fields, soccer (five-size synthetic fields) against five),” specifies the general director. The company is also very active on these products requested by communities or private operators.
The CAN goals and benches were all manufactured in the Soliers factory, by around a hundred employees. The latter should face similar challenges in the future since Metalu Plast intends to position itself in other major international competitions, after making contacts with the organizers of the last women’s football world championship, in New Zealand. “We have the products and the capacity,” assumes Thibault Viguerie. For other sports, we are open. We haven’t tried yet but why not. » The Metalu Plast catalog already includes numerous references in other disciplines.
