Bordeaux filed for bankruptcy just days after being relegated to the third tier of French football following Liverpool F.C.the owner withdrew from acquisition negotiations, the former League 1 club said on Thursday.
As one of the few clubs in the country in terms of trophies, it marks a sour note in French sport as the country prepares host the Paris Olympics.
Earlier this month, the six-time French champions were relegated from Ligue 2 by the National Directorate of Management Control due to financial concerns.
Once the parent company of Liverpool, Fenway Sports Group (FSG), withdrawn from takeover negotiations, effectively ended the club’s hopes of survival.
“It is a difficult decision that anticipates an inevitable consequence of the ongoing restructuring process,” the club said in a statement. They had previously also insisted that relegation would allow them to “come back stronger and at the highest level” after FSG opted not to continue negotiations with the club.
Bordeaux will also abandon the professional status it has maintained since 1937 and close its renowned training academy, which helped develop players such as Bixente Lizarazu, Jules Kounde and Zinedine Zidane.
President Gerard Lopez previously owned another French club, Lille, before buying Bordeaux three years ago. He also manages Portuguese club Boavista and has been involved in Formula 1 with Renault through his investment company Genii Capital.
Bordeaux were formed more than a century ago, in 1920, and won the most recent of their six top-flight titles in 2009. They reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League the following season, whilst finishing runners-up of the UEFA Cup in 1996, losing in the final to Bayern Munich.
Bordeaux were previously in administration in 2021 due to financial difficulties and last year finished mid-table in the second division under the management of manager Albert Riera – coincidentally a former player of the French club and Liverpool.
Additional reporting by Tommy Lund for Reuters
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