Bordeaux status in Ligue 2 confirmed three days before season starts

PARIS : Former champions Girondins Bordeaux have been reinstated in France’s second division, three days before the start of the new season, after being relegated down to the third tier over financial irregularities.

They were handed a reprieve by the French Football Federation (FFF) on Wednesday after putting together a debt restructuring plan.

Bordeaux, six-times champions of France, were demoted to the second division after finishing bottom of Ligue 1 last season, and have reported debts in the region of 40 million euros.

French soccer’s financial watchdog, the National Directorate of Professional Club Management Control (DNCG), found they would be unable to fulfil their financial obligations in the coming season, and ordered they be relegated down another tier to the National League, the third tier of French football.

But a debt restructuring plan with the club’s creditors, plus a capital injection of 10-million euros from owner Gerard Lopez and a 14-million euro guarantee from player sales, has seen the FFF agreed to Bordeaux playing in Ligue 2 this season.

The federation has asked the DNCG to “exercise reinforced and regular financial control of the club during the 2022-2023 season,” a statement issued on Wednesday said.

Lopez has offered fans free entry to their opening match of the season against Valenciennes on Saturday “in gratitude for the popular mobilisation around the club in recent weeks”. There have been several large scale demonstrations against the demotion in the city in recent weeks.

Bordeaux, who have also won four French Cups, last claimed the top flight title in 2009.

(Writing by Mark Gleeson in Cape Town; Editing by Christian Radnedge)