Tom Rocheteau and Baptiste Vendroux’s Ventilo Sports deepens DR Congo ties amid Monaco deal scrutiny | OneFootball

Ventilo Sports, the events agency behind the Variétés Club de France’s charity matches, has forged close links with DR Congo and its sports minister Didier Budimbu, a key player in the country’s partnership with AS Monaco. That deal is the subject of a criminal investigation in the Principality, L'Équipe reports.

On 29 April 2024, during Félix Tshisekedi’s state visit to France, the DR Congo president made an informal stop at Clairefontaine. He received a signed Variétés shirt, “Tshisekedi 10”, from Aurélien Logeais, who runs Ventilo alongside Tom Rocheteau and Baptiste Vendroux, son of Jacques, the Variétés president.

Stars present included Alain Giresse, Christian Karembeu, Robert Pirès, Wilfried Mbappé and Dominique Rocheteau. A PSG supporter, Tshisekedi was also handed a signed Paris shirt.

Before a reception lunch, Tshisekedi praised Safia Ibrahim-Netter, then the AFD head in Kinshasa, for helping to fund projects. The next day at the Élysée, Emmanuel Macron outlined support for creating an INSEP-style national sports institute in Kinshasa, noting the project had been presented around the Clairefontaine match.

Ventilo’s proximity grew, with Baptiste Vendroux in the front row at the France–DR Congo business forum on 30 April. Concerns emerged among senior figures about intermediaries said to claim Élysée backing, and Macron’s entourage did not respond to questions on any links.

In December 2024, the “Kinshasa solidaire” charity game pitted the Variétés against “RDC All Stars”, framed by a presidential reception, a French embassy lunch and a football round-table with Ibrahim-Netter and Budimbu. A Congo River excursion ended with Tourism Minister Didier M’Pambia thanking guests including Logeais and the Vendroux duo.

AFD, via Expertise France, commissioned Ventilo in summer 2024 to deliver a pre-feasibility diagnostic for a Kinshasa performance and sports careers centre, covering ecosystem analysis, existing structures and proposals. The work was estimated at around €15,000, and Ventilo said the mission has since finished.

Logeais then brokered DR Congo’s €4.6m, three-year partnership with Monaco, signed in June 2025 under a mandate from Budimbu. Monaco contracted with Pamars, Logeais’s firm, which added sports consultancy to its corporate purpose on 9 June 2025, a change he described as routine.

DR Congo also struck deals with AC Milan and Barcelona, the latter valued at €46m over four years, with a similar mandate for Logeais. Barcelona and its partnerships chief did not reply to queries, and his counsel declined to comment on ongoing commission talks.

This week, as DR Congo marked World Cup qualification for 11 June to 19 July, Vendroux, Rocheteau and Logeais were in Kinshasa with Robert Pirès, taking part in youth sport development activities.

Source: L'Équipe