Laurent Tapie has confirmed the statements made by his lawyer Ben Dayanim on Thursday; that the refusal of some of the ex-Full Tilt professionals to repay the money they owe to the group could block the takeover agreement should it remain unresolved. This is because Groupe Bernard Tapie is not ready to take on the extra costs (US$16,5m) generated by these players’ debts. However, he also explained that some of the players have responded to Groupe Bernard Tapie’s (GBT) calls for dialogue and have already signed contracts to repay the debts. He also hopes that those who have not responded to GBT’s calls will do so soon. However, he did not say which players had been cooperative or not.
iGamingFrance has translated his comments from French to English and published them below (as close to word for word as is possible).
‘As written in PokerStrategy, the argument of the players who say ‘we will refund if the money goes to the players’ is misleading, since they know very well that the players will be refunded ONLY if GBT goes all the way with the takeover, and for that to happen it is necessary that the bulk of money owed by the pros returns to Full Tilt.
Otherwise GBT will have to make up the shortfall, generating an additional cost to the overall operation that GBT is not willing to take on, especially as the financial position of Full Tilt, as it appears following the audit, is actually worse than expected.
Therefore the claim that this may block the deal unfortunately is true.
But GBT will not stop there.
We will study closely the exact account histories of the 19 pro players who have never repaid their debts owed to the other Full Tilt players, which amount to US$16,5m exactly.
The poker community, and particularly that made up of former Full Tilt players waiting to recover their funds, deserves to know the reality of the behaviour of some major poker figures who say they are ‘sorry for the situation of Full Tilt players and want to do everything they can to help them get their funds back », blaming the old management, but also refrain from saying how much they have borrowed from Full Tilt, and lost, playing on the site.
However these losses represent some of the funds owed to the players who are waiting to be reimbursed.
When you are a poker player, a great player at that, recognised and admired, the basic rule, it seems to me, is to honour your gambling debts.
Fortunately, among the 19 players we have attempted to contact, some have immediately called back and worked with us on a repayment plan to clear their debts, and we are already finalising contracts to that effect.
We now hope that those who have not contacted us will do so quickly, to find the same type of solutions, so that the situation does not remain as it is.’

Source of information:

http://www.igamingfrance.com/full-tilt-poker-laurent-tapie-sheds-a-light-on-the-goings-on-behind-the-scenes/26186