A sigh of relief. The executive committee of the French Football Federation (FFF) has decided to keep the Girondins de Bordeaux in Ligue 2 next season. Good news for the club which feared a bankruptcy filing in the event of administrative relegation. “The club is saved”, assures Gérard Lopez, the president of the Girondins, at the microphone of Europe 1. “I am very happy for the employees of the club, for the players, for the supporters, for the environment around the club” , he rejoices. Even if he personally is rather cautious about the decision: “I am especially comforted in the idea that we had rights and that these rights were respected. From there (…), this n It’s not joy, but it’s just a confirmation that what we said was right and was appreciated,” he said.
A “super solid” file
To achieve such a result this Wednesday – after failing before the DNCG then the FFF – Gérard Lopez had to put together a file that he himself describes as “super solid”. “There were ongoing negotiations with lenders. In the first instance, we could not present all of what we would have liked, simply because there was a blockage with them. In the second instance, we presented a file that was super solid”, explains Gérard Lopez.
“The fact that we are saved does not mean that we have to rest”
Now saved, Gérard Lopez is already planning for the coming season: “I want all the efforts that have been made over the past five weeks to be the start of something and not the finish. The fact that we are saved today Today, that does not mean that we have to rest”, assures the former president of Lille.
A last step on Tuesday in front of the DNCG
Ambitious, Gérard Lopez affirms on Europe 1 that the objective is to “go back to Ligue 1 this season”. But for that, “we have to be free to be able to undertake and that we are left to work quietly” confides the president of the Bordeaux club. Indeed, the Girondins de Bordeaux will have to pass a final stage Tuesday, August 2 before the DNCG to find out if the financial policeman imposes measures on him – (such as a supervision of the wage bill).
“There was surveillance last year which created a lot of problems because in the end, we couldn’t manage the club as we wanted”, explains the president of the Girondins. Indeed, the Girondins were watched very closely by the DNCG which, for each million spent, wanted the club to return as much to its coffers.