Will the relegation of the Girondins de Bordeaux become a political issue? About two hours after the announcement of the DNCG, which relegated the club to National, almost condemning it to a bankruptcy filing and a judicial liquidation, the town hall of Bordeaux and Bordeaux Métropole signed a joint press release, to say their “sadness and bitterness”, and evoke a “catastrophe for the professional teams, male and female, the training center and especially all the employees”.
They ask the minister to urge the CNOSF
But above all, the mayor (EELV) of Bordeaux Pierre Hurmic and the president of the metropolis (PS) Alain Anziani announce their intention to continue the fight. “It is not conceivable to stick to this decision”, they say, as the club had done a few hours earlier, citing likely appeals to the administrative court and the French National Olympic and Sports Committee (CNOSF), even if reversing the decision seems unlikely. Pierre Hurmic and Alain Anziani even appeal to the Minister of Sports, Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, asking her that “the CNOSF can decide within a timeframe compatible with the resumption of the Ligue 2 season”.
The relegation of the club has of course largely reacted to the Bordeaux political class. Former mayor (LR) Nicolas Florian, who was Alain Juppé’s finance assistant when the club was sold by M6 to American investment funds King Street and GACP, speaks of a “dramatic decision for our club” and evokes his “great sadness”. Was he targeted by Matthieu Rouveyre’s tweet, who was hostile to this takeover? “You elected officials, partly responsible for this fiasco, who come surreptitiously to participate in the funeral wake: do you have no modesty?” attacks the former elected socialist.
Thomas Cazenave, Renaissance deputy in Bordeaux calls on him to “to meet with all the stakeholders in order to assess future impacts”. Another Bordeaux deputy, the ecologist Nicolas Thierry wants “first and foremost think of the supporters, the club’s employees, the men’s and women’s teams for whom the decision falls like a cleaver”.