Will the third attempt be the right one to avoid an administrative demotion of the club to National 1, certainly synonymous with judicial liquidation?
Failed twice by the financial policeman of French football, Bordeaux plays its future Thursday at 2 p.m. during a hearing before the French National Olympic and Sports Committee (CNOSF), provided with a court decision that the Girondins hope decisive to be maintained in League 2.
The Girondins hope, in any case, that the CNOSF will give a favorable opinion on their request for conciliation, at the earliest Friday evening and more probably Monday.
In which case the file would be referred to the Executive Committee of the French Federation (FFF) which would have to decide urgently before the resumption of Ligue 2, Saturday July 30.
Hope gives life to Bordeaux, which has been fighting for weeks to avoid demotion, headed by the controversial President Gerard Lopez, ultra-present in the media to save this monument of French football, as he had already done last summer when he bought the club from former American shareholders.
Debt reduced by 75%
Surrounded in his mission by lawyers, representatives of the local economic world, supported by the elected officials of the Bordeaux metropolis and parliamentarians from the Gironde who denounced a few days ago "the death warrant" that the club risks, the he Spanish-Luxembourgish businessman succeeded in obtaining a judgment on Tuesday approving his bailout plan from the Bordeaux commercial court.
Legally, it is better than the order of this same court issued before the passage in early July before the appeal commission of the DNCG, financial policeman of French football.
The body had not taken this into account in its decision to maintain the demotion of the club, to the great dismay of Bordeaux leaders, who alleged a number of “obvious errors” in the motivations of the federal body.
This homologation judgment seals the conciliation agreements concluded between the Girondins and their American creditors King Street and Fortress regarding the debt, which has been reduced by 75% (from 53 million to 13.5 million euros), and the sequestration of 24 million euros (10 in capital increase, 14 in guarantee of player sales during the transfer window).
The club "is not in default"
"The FCGB is not in a state of cessation of payments and the terms of the agreement ensure the sustainability of the club as part of its maintenance in Ligue 2, the various measures allowing the club to have a positive cash flow until to June 2023,” the court said.
This approval should make it possible to remove “the last misunderstandings expressed so far by the football authorities.
We are confident for the future, ”said Deputy CEO Thomas Jacquemier on Tuesday evening.
It remains to be seen how the CNOSF conciliators, who must give their advisory opinion on Friday evening or at the beginning of next week, then the "Comex" of the FFF if this opinion is favorable, will perceive this document added to the file.
Is it threatened with inadmissibility?
Because if we refer to article 5 of the DNCG regulations, "any document and/or new commitment that the calling club would like to present must imperatively be produced at the latest during its hearing before the appeal committee and be, on that date, duly implemented”.
The FFF is not obliged to follow the CNOSF
To protect themselves, the Bordeaux leaders, who know that their project is not viable in National, requested and obtained an appointment with the Ministry of Sports in the wake of their passage before the CNOSF.
This meeting is scheduled for Friday afternoon with the office of Minister Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, we learned from the ministry.
Historically, Nice (2002) and Lens (2014) had obtained a favorable judgment after going before the CNOSF conciliators, then validated by the Comex.
On the other hand, Strasbourg (2011) and Le Mans (2013) had also succeeded in convincing the CNOSF, but not the FFF which had confirmed their administrative demotions.
If the Girondins, who have started a major social plan at the same time, do not get the green light from the Comex to return to L2, they can rely on this approval judgment if they decide to file an interim order with of the Administrative Court.
