July 13 – Bordeaux and Angers can breathe a sigh of relief. Both clubs will play in Ligue 1 next season after their appeals against relegation imposed by France’s financial watchdog DNCG were successful, the clubs announced separately on Monday.
Businessman Gerard Lopez, the former Lille owner who is set to take over Boirdeaux, drew up a business plan to convince the DNCG to reverse their decision.
“The club is saved!” said Lopez. “”It’s a great day for Bordeaux and we will now get down to putting in place the sporting and economic project validated this evening.”
In April, the club was placed under the control of a local commercial court following the decision by King Street, who succeeded M6 as the majority stakeholder in the club in a €70 million takeover in 2018, to withdraw continued funding for the club. King Street invested €46 million in Bordeaux, but no longer “wished to support the club and finance its current and future needs”. Lopez emerged as a new saviour even as losses were reaching €80 million.
Earlier this month, the DNCG relegated Bordeaux and Angers, who are labouring under the impact of the Covid-19 crisis, from the top flight. On Twitter Angers announced that their appeal had been successful as well.
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