It was expected, it is now official.

The Belgian club Royal Excel Mouscron, owned by Gérard Lopez, has not received its license to be able to continue to evolve at the professional level next year.

It is automatically relegated to D2 ACFF, the fourth division.

That is to say at the amateur level.

The club could now file for bankruptcy in the coming weeks.

Mouscron was already on the precipice when the Spanish-Luxembourgish businessman took it over in July 2020. But the owner and president of the Girondins de Bordeaux failed to turn it around.

He had announced last summer that they no longer intended to meet the needs of the club.

Since then, it has been on sale for a symbolic euro.

Gérard Lopez had notably decided to sit on the 12.7 million euros invested in the club according to his entourage.

An abortive takeover with an English investment fund

“To make it short, we have had a dozen proposals in recent months to buy Excel, explains a close friend of the club.

There were only clowns with one exception, an English investment fund that could do the deal, but there was a problem with AML [the English agency regulating investment funds which fights in particular against money laundering silver].

The AML refused to validate the agreement because Mouscron is subject to a possible criminal conviction due to the management of the club by the predecessors of Gérard Lopez.

Today, the club finds itself on the verge of bankruptcy.

If discussions still exist with possible buyers, the Belgian leaders could file for bankruptcy in the coming weeks.

The conflict with the Losc club about the convention that bound the two clubs is also still not settled.

The dispute could even end up in court.

Until now, despite some salary delays, the holding company of Gérard Lopez Jogo Bonito has continued to ensure their payments.

What about at the end of May?

Bordeaux, the other burning issue

In parallel with this file, the teams of Gérard Lopez are especially active on the possible relegation of the Girondins de Bordeaux in Ligue 2. It could be official as of this Wednesday evening in the event of victory of AS Saint-Etienne in Nice in match late for the 36th day of Ligue 1.

Bordeaux-Nice: Can the Girondins survive a descent into Ligue 2?

https://t.co/CJxmP8mgMs via @20minutesBord

— 20minutesbordeaux (@20minutesbord) May 2, 2022


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At this stage, the leaders are trying to complete a business plan to allow the club to start again at least in the second division.

As a reminder, for this they must plug a hole of 40 to 45 million euros according to information from

20 Minutes.

Our file on Ligue 1

“We are quite optimistic about getting there.

The main lines are there now, we will have to refine everything, but this will require a profound restructuring of the club on all floors.

Afterwards, there will be the passage before the authorities…”, explains a member of the Girondins de Bordeaux.

Lille

100% Lille: The draw in Marseille, the arrival of Ben Arfa and the dispute with Mouscron on the menu of our podcast

Sport

Losc – Girondins de Bordeaux: What legacy did Gérard Lopez leave in Lille?

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