Will Gerard Lopez's Bordeaux tread the lawns of L2 at the start of the school year?

It is not at all sure after the decision of the financial policeman of French football to sanction him on Tuesday with a descent into National, the equivalent of the third division.

A decision almost expected by observers of the world of football.

"It deprives the club of (the possibility of) continuing to implement the strategy to clean up its financial situation and to write a new page in the history of FC Girondins de Bordeaux", they reacted in a communicated.

During the almost two-hour hearing of Lopez, owner since last July of the club which he had saved at the time of an administrative relegation to L2, the Bordeaux leaders presented a guarantee of the re-engagement of the majority shareholder. (Gerard Lopez via his company Jogo Bonito) up to 10 million euros as well as offers to sell some players, the cumulative amount of which exceeds the objectives set by the Commission, namely 22 million euros.

They have all summer to make them.

The Hispano-Luxembourgish businessman and president of the Girondins de Bordeaux, Gérard Lopez, during a press conference on July 23, 2021 at the club's training center at Château de Haillan Philippe LOPEZ AFP / Archives

A deal to be found

But according to a source close to the club, it is more the agreement reached with the holders of the club's debt, King Street and Fortress, namely a transfer of responsibility for half of this debt (estimated at 50 million euros). euros) to Jogo Bonito and the recovery by these lenders of the profit-sharing on the sale by Monaco of Aurélien Tchouaméni to Real Madrid (around 11 million euros), which made the proceedings tick.

"The club remains confident in its ability to demonstrate the solidity of its project for the 2022/2023 season. The time of the call will allow it to finalize new solutions to obtain its maintenance in Ligue 2", concludes the press release from the Girondins.

While waiting to be auditioned again in early July, the Lopez clan will work to find a new agreement with these lenders, already present when the club was taken over by the American investment fund GACP at the end of 2018 and since then in the crosshairs of the DNCG.

It must be said that in three seasons, the financial situation of the scapular club has deteriorated sharply between a substantial structural deficit, an exploding wage bill, disastrous management when the health crisis hit and discounted TV rights via Mediapro which made default.

The logo of the Girondins de Bordeaux, April 23, 2021 at the Château du Haillan, the headquarters of the club Philippe LOPEZ AFP / Archives

King Street and Fortress would have a lot to lose financially if they failed to find a new deal with Lopez, hampered in his campaign to rebuild the team in L2, with negotiations for the time being frozen.

In case of failure, we could move towards a bankruptcy filing before the commercial court and a receivership procedure.

With two options: maintenance in National if the club finds a new buyer or relegation to the 5th division in the event of liquidation.

© 2022 AFP