The administrative demotion of the Girondins de Bordeaux to National (3rd division) was confirmed on Tuesday by the appeal committee of the DNCG, the financial policeman of football, according to the minutes of the French Federation (FFF), consulted by the France Media Agency. In financial difficulty after its sporting relegation to Ligue 2 at the end of last season, the Girondin club, received Tuesday in Paris, failed to convince the federal DNCG and its Spanish-Luxembourg owner Gérard Lopez had recognized in recent days that in the event of an unfavorable decision, the club risked filing for bankruptcy.
Bordeaux has the possibility of requesting the National Olympic and Sports Committee (CNOSF) in the third instance to try to be reinstated in Ligue 2, but given the delays before the study of its case – “not before the beginning of August”, according to a specialized lawyer -, filing for bankruptcy can be feared. It could then be followed by a judicial liquidation and a restart in National 3, the 5th national level where the club’s reserve team evolves.
On June 14, the Girondins were administratively demoted by the DNCG, less than a year after Lopez arrived at the helm of a club then already threatened with administrative demotion to Ligue 2, alongside American creditors King Street. and Fortress. In recent days, the leaders of the club with the scapular had reached an agreement with the creditors for this passage before the federal DNCG, according to a source in the entourage of Gérard Lopez. But the appeal committee did not draft the club six times champion of France, which had to find 40 million euros to obtain the green light from the financial policeman of French football.
The Girondins de Bordeaux quickly denounced an “incomprehensible decision” against which they will formulate “an appeal”. “This unjust decision is unacceptable and incomprehensible (…) I will fight until the end and that is why we have decided to appeal against this unfair decision”, announced the owner of the club, Gérard Lopez, in a press release, without specifying with which jurisdiction the appeal would be made. The Girondins, sportingly relegated from Ligue 1 to Ligue 2, then administratively in National, have the possibility of seizing the Olympic Committee (CNOSF) as well as administrative justice.
