“Our rights have been respected“, rejoices this Wednesday on franceinfo the president of the Girondins de Bordeaux, Gérard Lopez, after the announcement of the FFF to reintegrate the club into Ligue 2. Three days before the start of the season, the executive council of the French Federation of football (FFF) decided on Wednesday July 27, 2022, to fish out the Girondins, putting an end to a long soap opera.
⚡⚽Bordeaux reinstated in Ligue 2
“Our rights have been respected. We will do everything to try to get Bordeaux back to where the club should be,” said Gérard Lopez, president of Girondins de Bordeaux. pic.twitter.com/XhE53sSSXt
— franceinfo (@franceinfo) July 27, 2022
After several appeals, Bordeaux, sportingly relegated to L2 then administratively demoted to National (3rd division) by the National Control and Management Directorate (DNCG), is therefore authorized to play in Ligue 2. It could receive Valenciennes on Saturday, for the 1st day. “Our rights have been respecteddeclares Gerard Lopez. We will do everything to try to get Bordeaux back to where Bordeaux should be.”
franceinfo: What is your first reaction after the FFF’s decision to reinstate your club in Ligue 2?
I have many thoughts for the club, employees, players, supporters and partners. Of course it’s a relief. I also have a lot of thoughts for all those who have worked and helped, such as the metropolis, the city, the elected officials, the whole ecosystem around the club. There was a union that was made possible first of all by the interest that people can take in the club, by the efforts that have been made, the work that has been done. [Néanmoins] The union would not have been of much use if we had not been within our rights. The most important thing is that our rights were respected all the way.
The FFF made its decision only three days before the start of the Ligue 2 season. We imagine that it will not be easy to start a new season under these conditions?
It is not easy because it has been twice that we have saved the club in a way that is too fair to be able to prepare serenely. However, the staff believed in it from the beginning so we worked hard to prepare for the season as well as possible. It is true that we are not there yet. We will have to make transfers, bring players out and attract players to be able to have the team we want.
Won’t Bordeaux start the season a little weaker?
The problem we’ve had since the start is that, effectively, when you put a club like Bordeaux at national level, transfers are automatically blocked because all the clubs that could be interested in players hesitate to make offers. , expect players, eventually, to leave for free. We are doubly harmed by this. It’s going to be a bit complicated. Already, we are going to sell players, that’s for sure, since there is a lot of interest around the players. We hope that we will also have the opportunity to work quietly on arrivals. Now, we are going to do everything to have a season that is worthy of the efforts we have just made.
Will you be able to play on Saturday against Valenciennes, on the first day of Ligue 2?
We are not sure because we know that the Valenciennes club will also have waited to know this decision. I think both clubs will request a postponement of the game. We will see what the direction of the competition will decide.
If we talk to you about a rise in Ligue 1 this season, what do you think?
This is the goal of an entire club. We are going to do everything for it but it is sure that we leave with a certain delay. But it is clear that we will always do everything to try to get Bordeaux back to where Bordeaux should be.