July 5, 2022 will be marked with a black stone in Bordeaux.

Between sadness, bitterness and amazement.

"I'm like a zombie," reacted club legend Alain Giresse to the daily Sud Ouest.

"Where are we going now? How sad. I never imagined the club could come to this."

On France Info, Bixente Lizarazu, a former defender turned star consultant, spoke of "a disaster since the sale of M6 (end of 2018), with first the American management of GACP with these famous pension funds and then the management of Gerard Lopez. These people, one wonders how they bought the club, in any case they were smart enough to buy it but not to manage it".

A year ago, Lopez, with the approval of the DNCG and the financial support of two funds already present with the club (King Street and Fortress), had succeeded in recovering the Girondin patient still viable sportingly (12th in 2021) but in agony financially and promised, already, to a possible administrative demotion in L2.

Employees on probation

What followed was a succession of bad choices by men, management errors, leading to a calamitous 20th place in L1 in May, with all-out tensions behind the scenes and an unhealthy climate at Haillan, headquarters of a now oversized club. with nearly 300 employees suspended.

The Château du Haillan, at the Bordeaux training center, May 19, 2022 Philippe LOPEZ AFP / Archives

And when it came to playing the most important match of their season on Tuesday before the financial policeman, on appeal to the headquarters of the French Federation (FFF), President Lopez and his associates failed.

Despite their documents added to the file, including in particular an agreement with the creditors King Street and Fortress, guarantees with the opening of a compulsory line of credit, as well as an order from the Commercial Court of Bordeaux demonstrating "the seriousness of a financial restructuring as well as the end of the difficulties of the FCGB company "if the club was maintained in L2, they failed to convince.

Fallen from above, Lopez spoke on Tuesday of "an unfair, unacceptable and incomprehensible decision", adding that he would fight "until the end and this is the reason why we have decided to appeal (referral to the CNOSF or of the urgent applications judge of the administrative court) against this iniquitous decision".

"Survival Walk"

"I do not understand why what the commercial court validated, the DNCG did not validate. That is still one of the great mysteries", declared Wednesday Alain Anziani, president of Bordeaux Métropole, owner of the Matmut Atlantique stadium, and a trained lawyer on France 3.

As of Tuesday evening, this elected official as well as the mayor of Bordeaux Pierre Hurmic had asked in a joint press release to the Minister of Sports Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, that "the CNOSF be able to decide within a period compatible with the resumption of the League season. 2 (July 30), on the scope of the guarantees provided by the Girondins de Bordeaux to the DNCG".

Without real guarantee of reversal of decision, with regard to case law, and with a high probability of immediate liquidation of the club six times champion of France, with loss of pro status, approval of the training center, disappearance of the women's section and restart in National 3 (5th division) whose season begins on August 29.

Bruised too, supporters called on their club to fight, "to play the 1 or 2% chance that we have left" in the words of Florian Brunet, the leader of the Ultramarines, on Twitter.

The group of ultras also called in a press release for a "survival march" on Saturday (4:00 p.m.) in the streets of Bordeaux.

Bordeaux supporters show their dissatisfaction during a match in Brest on May 21, 2022 DAMIEN MEYER AFP / Archives

Finally, what will be the state of mind of David Guion's players and his first three recruits (Polish goalkeeper Rafal Straczek and defenders Yoann Barbet and Vital Nsimba, two players trained at the club) whose contracts cannot be approved during the first preparation match against Rodez, scheduled for Wednesday evening in Agen (6:00 p.m.)?

Wednesday at midday, this meeting was maintained and the security on site reinforced.

© 2022 AFP