Zinedine Zidane’s Home Club Announces Bankruptcy, Professional Status Revoked

Paris, Todaysgist.com – French football club Bordeaux has been forced to accept semi-professional status and will play in the third division next season.

On July 25, 2024, Bordeaux confirmed that they had filed for bankruptcy with the Bordeaux Commercial Court to begin the restructuring process. Once the Court approves, the club will automatically lose its status as a professional football team.

According to the Spanish newspaper USfinancial difficulties forced Bordeaux to file for bankruptcy. In 2021, with commercial revenues declining and television revenues lost due to Covid-19, the club was placed under special management.

The following year, the French Professional Club Financial Supervisory Authority (DNCG) proposed Bordeaux’s relegation from Ligue 2 to the semi-professional Third Division, but the club successfully appealed. This year, the DNCG continued its proposal and the club appealed again, but later withdrew the request.

Last season, Bordeaux survived in Ligue 2 and finished 12th. If they try to survive, they will have to appear again in front of the DNCG with a budget that does not correspond to reality, and this could result in additional sanctions.

Bordeaux players automatically become free agents. The club said it would close its academy but would continue to develop its youth teams in a different way. “The club aims to develop in the third division next season, to return to the highest level as soon as possible, with improved finances and new ambitions,” Bordeaux said in a statement.

American investment fund King Street once held a stake in Bordeaux, before selling it to businessman Gerard Lopez in 2021. Liverpool’s Fenway Sport Group also tried to buy back, but later pulled out.

Bordeaux became a professional football team in 1937. They are one of the most successful clubs in French football, winning six Ligue 1s, four Coupes de France, three Coupes de la Ligue and three French Super Cups.

Bordeaux also produced many of France’s football stars, such as Zinedine Zidane, Jean Tigana, Alain Giresse, Yoann Gourcuff, Aurelien Tchouameni and Jules Kounde. In 1996, Zidane and Bordeaux reached the UEFA Cup final, the club’s best ever European appearance.

“It is difficult to accept the situation Bordeaux are facing,” Zidane wrote on social media after the club’s announcement.

“However, I am confident that the future will be brighter. My heart goes out to those who love Bordeaux,” he wrote.