“We will be very vigilant” about the future of the Girondins de Bordeaux, warns the vice-president of the Senate Nathalie Delattre

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Ten of the eighteen parliamentarians from Gironde sent a letter to Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, Minister of Sports, asking her to receive a delegation from the Girondins de Bordeaux. This is to take place on Wednesday. Relegated to National 1 by the DNCG appeal committee, the club will be heard by the CNOSF on Thursday July 21, in a last resort to save its skin in Ligue 2. If this decision is confirmed, it should be accompanied by a bankruptcy filing, condemning the club to evolve in National 3, the fifth division.

Several points were raised to motivate the demotion of the Girondins on July 5, starting with a very large debt, even if President Gérard Lopez announced an agreement with American creditors to reduce it. For her part, Nathalie Delattre (Radical Party), vice-president of the Senate, senator from Gironde and elected to the municipal council of Bordeaux, shared the letter sent to the minister on social networks. She details the outlines, and the reasons that lead her to invest in saving the club from a historic collapse.

Franceinfo: sport: Can this mobilization of local parliamentarians have a real influence on the final decision of the DNCG?

Nathalie Delattre: I think so. In any case, going to court will be too late, since Ligue 2 will resume ten days later. Everything is based on the understanding of the accounting documents by the CNOSF, an advisory public service delegation, and the opinion that the minister can form. She first said that she would not want to go into the decision, and then she agrees to receive the club. We bring our stone to the building. If the Girondins are relegated, the women’s team will be affected, 300 jobs will be threatened…

Is it the responsibility of politics to exert this kind of “pressure” on the minister for a sports club?

There is the emotional side, we receive messages of support. But this club is also an important economic unit. I fight for businesses. On mobilized for the Ford site in Blanquefort, jI don’t see why I wouldn’t do it for a sports club that has an impact on the life of Gironde. I find it normal to respond to questions that we receive from the club, supporters or partners.

You talk about jobs, but a social plan is already planned by Gérard Lopez after relegation to Ligue 2…

Yes, it is obvious. We can hear from the DNCG that it is not just any management here. But today, there is no other solution. Of course, if the CNOSF opens a dialogue, all of this will be looked at later.

Do you think, as he can say, that this decision is made against Lopez more than against the club?

It’s a feeling. relegations [administratives] are, for the most part, the consequence of cessation of payment by clubs. Here, this is not the case. Expectations are sometimes misunderstood, all hypotheses can arise. You see it on social networks, there are questions. We can’t avoid asking the question.

It is all the same a manager who prefers to add a line of credit when the DNCG asks him to add equity. Does the question arise for the public authorities to continue without him?

I am not defending Mr. Lopez! We are seized because the club is in a catastrophic situation. I don’t think going into liquidation is a solution. What is interesting is that the minister can talk about this with the leader, and that he asks himself the right questions. We must initiate this dialogue.

The feeling is that the political reactions come late. The arrivals of the GACP investment fund (in 2018) then of Gérard Lopez (in 2021) had been positively received. Given the state of the club since then, this may call out…

Yes, it can challenge. But when you are faced with a club faced with the departure of M6 (owner from 1999 to 2008) and a solution is offered to you… You can also say to yourself that with local partners, things could be different and give lucky that it works. When I spoke with the Ultramarines (main ultra group of the Girondins), I had positive feedback from them on the direction. At some point, tongues do not always loosen easily. When it gets complicated, yes, we talk to politicians about it and we take part in the file.

“I went to the stadium a few times, I had negative feedback on the results, but not necessarily on the rest.”

Nathalie Delattre, Vice-President of the Senate

at franceinfo: sport

In hindsight, do you regret having issued favorable opinions concerning the various takeovers since 2018?

Do not live in regret or remorse. We must try to see how to move forward on the file to avoid judicial liquidation. I prefer to be pragmatic and learn from that. But if that happens, many of us will be very vigilant afterwards.


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