For Bordeaux supporters, and for anyone who cares about French football, these are difficult days. The latest chapter in a decline that has lasted years, through seasons that have slowly stripped away what Bordeaux once represented. A club already relegated because of its debts is now facing something far more severe. A few days ago, the Girondins were officially denied a place in the Championnat National 2, the fourth tier of French football, leaving one of the country’s historic names facing the possibility of disappearing from the national game entirely. Bankruptcy is no longer a distant fear. It has become the direction of travel. Unless something changes in the coming days, unless Bordeaux can somehow secure a place in the first regional division — the sixth level of the pyramid — this may be the final turn in a story that has been unravelling for years. The DNCG (Direction Nationale du Contrôle de Gestion) has upheld the decision to exclude Bordeaux from the Championnat National 2 following the club’s appeal against the ruling of 30 June. Given the scale of the debts accumulated under Gérard López’s ownership, the outcome was difficult to avoid.
During the hearing, López confirmed once again that he intends to stop investing in the club, having injected €71 million since taking control in July 2021. He also said he would be prepared to sell Bordeaux for the symbolic price of one euro to a buyer capable of securing the club’s future. A change of ownership could still provide an opportunity for a further appeal to the French National Olympic and Sports Committee (CNOSF), whose opinion is advisory but often taken into account by the executive committee of the French Football Federation. The problem is that no new documents can be added to the case. The financial situation examined by the CNOSF would be the same one already presented. A reversal now feels unlikely. Even with a new owner, Bordeaux face an almost impossible task of remaining in the fourth division. A fall to the sixth tier would put the club under even greater pressure financially, with bankruptcy and the disappearance of one of French football’s most recognisable institutions becoming real possibilities.
That possibility has already begun to shape life around the Girondins. As reported by L’Équipe, training had resumed only hours earlier following the end-of-season break before being suspended again because of the uncertainty surrounding the club’s future. Talks with Sparta, a British investment fund, had been ongoing, but there has been no sign of a breakthrough. Around Bordeaux, supporters are beginning to confront what may be coming. L’Équipe collected the words of several fans who described themselves as “angry, disappointed and defeated” by the events of recent weeks. It is an understandable response. Bordeaux are not simply another club caught in financial trouble. They are six-time champions of France, a name that has shaped the country’s football history, a side whose supporters could still fill the stadium with more than 25,000 people even in the fourth division. Now, after years of decline, they are closer than ever to falling out of French football altogether.