Girondins de Bordeaux escape liquidation, club returns to National

This Tuesday, July 30, the Bordeaux Commercial Court ruled: the club will not be liquidated, it is placed in receivership. The Girondins de Bordeaux will play in the National next season.

The club’s employees can breathe easy: the Girondins de Bordeaux have escaped compulsory liquidation and are placed in receivership.

The club will be placed under the supervision of a judicial administrator until January 30, 2025. A first point is planned for September 17. The cessation of its professional activity is confirmed, including for the women’s team and the training center. The club will play in National 1 next season.

Gérard Lopez, the highly contested president of the club, was not present this Tuesday before the commercial court which was to rule on the future of the club. Victim of death threats, the president intervened via videoconference during this hearing, which was held behind closed doors.
On July 25, the president announced that he was giving up the club’s professional status. A contested decision, described as “unilateral”which results in the loss of both its players and its training center.

This Tuesday, it was up to the commercial court to decide on the future of the club, which is in debt to the tune of 90 million euros and unable to finance its daily operations. The Girondins had requested a receivership, in order to renegotiate its debts over a period not exceeding eighteen months. During this period, the employees’ salaries and the payment of charges must be guaranteed.
Gérard Lopez had to be able to provide sufficient guarantees on these issues, under penalty of seeing the liquidation of his club pronounced. His request was heard by the courts.

The supporters had arranged to meet at noon in front of the commercial court.Come in large numbers“, they asked, eager to show their support for their club threatened with compulsory liquidation. At the same time, they called for the departure of Gérard Lopez, the discredited president of the club, associated with its hellish descent.

There were several hundred of them at midday, wearing navy and white jerseys, facing the blazing sun on the very mineral Place de la Bourse.

“This club represents a heritage that has been passed down and is being passed down from generation to generation. Financiers and businessmen come to football to make a profit. They don’t care about football,” deplores Nicolas Pietrelli, supporter and head of the Girondins Web media.

The only thing they can’t take is this intangible heritage. This bond that unites all the supporters cannot be bought.

Nicolas Pietrelli

Supporter and manager of the Girondins Web media

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Not everyone shared the same opinion on the future of their favorite club. Nicolas Pietrelli hoped for a recovery, in order to preserve the 300 or so jobs that would result.I want liquidation, so Lopez is forced to let go of the club. We would have to start from scratch with a buyer behind us.“, said Saïd Zaidi before the decision. This long-time supporter nevertheless acknowledged that the situation “It hurts the hearts of us, the old ones, who knew Bordeaux at the highest level.”