French giants Bordeaux relegated to sixth tier for financial irregularities

Six-time French champions Bordeaux, the nine wherever Zinedine Zidane made his name, to play successful sixth tier aft sanctions.

Six-time French champions Bordeaux, sanctioned successful the summertime for fiscal irregularities, volition play successful the sixth tier of French shot this season, the Nouvelle-Aquitaine league confirmed connected Thursday.

Bordeaux were sanctioned for failing to supply the astir 10 cardinal euros ($11.6m) needed for the 2025-26 and 2026-27 fiscal years and to conscionable indebtedness payments.

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Once 1 of France’s starring shot clubs and the squad wherever the country’s caller caput coach, Zinedine Zidane, made his name, Bordeaux was sold past period for a symbolic 1 euro to US-based concern radical Park Bench, which agreed to instrumentality connected the remaining debt.

Two days aft appearing earlier the Nouvelle-Aquitaine league oversight commission, which approved its betterment fund and issued “a affirmative sentiment connected their imaginable information successful Regional 1”, the nine was unanimously approved to play successful the apical determination tier.

“Rebuilding tin present begin,” said Dominique Delport, the caller president chosen by Park Bench, speaking to the AFP quality agency.

A presumption of Bordeaux’s Matmut Atlantique Stadium up of the Paris 2024 Olympics [File: Stephane Mahe/Reuters]

The caller owners are owed successful commercialized tribunal connected October 20 to ratify the caller continuation plan, which present runs implicit 12 years, with the indebtedness halved from 26 cardinal to 13 cardinal euros.

The squad is mostly amateur, though the nine tin tract 5 players connected nonrecreational contracts, 1 of whom volition beryllium erstwhile Ligue 1 striker Baptiste Guillaume.

The nine has produced galore large names of French football, including academy products Bixente Lizarazu and Christophe Dugarry, who some played alongside Zidane successful the 1998 World Cup-winning team.

More than a decennary earlier, Alain Giresse and Jean Tigana were portion of a celebrated France midfield that won the 1984 European Championship.

However, they were relegated to Ligue 2 successful 2022 and past placed nether judicial restructuring successful 2024, which caused them to relinquish their nonrecreational presumption and their highly rated academy.