This is a crucial meeting in the history of the club. The Bordeaux commercial court will decide on Tuesday whether it will continue the receivership procedure or whether it will say stop and declare liquidation. President Gérard Lopez assures that he has “worked to make it happen properly.” For France Blue Gironde, He discusses this burning news, the lessons of the summer of 2024 and his desire to rebuild. Overview of the various files.
Bordeaux will find Matmut again
The Girondins de Bordeaux will be able to play their next match and the following ones on the pitch of the Matmut Atlantique. After a last weekend of negotiations, an agreement was reached between the club and the operator SBA. Why only now? “Everyone had something to lose” recalls Gérard Lopez. The club will not pay rent and will have to pay operating costs, i.e. 45 to 51,000 euros per match. How? Thanks to the 10% that SBA will pay it as naming, i.e. a sum of 240,000 euros. The operator still retains priority in the event of events within the Bordeaux-Lac stadium. This will concern two or three dates according to our information. For the Girondins, beyond popular support, it is the assurance of bringing in more funds in terms of ticketing and hospitality.
A budget of 7 to 8 million
A budget of 4 to 5 million euros for the season had been mentioned.The budget is set, it will be a net budget of 7 to 8 million euros. I had to make a contribution and I might have to make a small one. We are completely on target,” assures Gérard Lopez. Which will make it, by far, the biggest in National 2. “We are completely within the budget that we initially presented. And as always, the payroll will be the biggest part.” The president specifies that from the start he has had a budget with matches at Matmut and another in a smaller stadium.
Bordeaux will find Matmut again
The good news at the start of the week is that the Girondins de Bordeaux should be able to play their next match and the following ones on the pitch of the Matmut Atlantique. After a final weekend of negotiations, an agreement is about to be reached between the club and the operator SBA. Why only now? Everyone had something to lose. ” recalls Gérard Lopez. The club will not pay rent and will have to pay operating costs, i.e. 45 to 51,000 euros per match. How? Thanks to the 10% that SBA will pay it as naming, i.e. a sum of 240,000 euros. The operator still retains priority in the event of events within the Bordeaux-Lac stadium. This will concern two or three dates according to our information. For the Girondins, beyond popular support, it is the assurance of bringing in more funds in terms of ticketing and hospitality.
“By going to the National in the best case scenario, we would have found ourselves with a hole in the coffers of 25 million that was impossible to cover”
Social plan and employees
The PSE will come into force in the coming weeks. Who will stay in Haillan? “We will have between a dozen and fifteen employees, excluding athletes,” assures Gérard Lopez. Employees who learned through the press this summer about the abandonment of professional status and the closure of the training center. The president specifies that he chose “privacy” and that it was “shocked” to see internal documents end up in the public domain.”I would have preferred to explain that the abandonment of the professional status was due to the rescue of the club because without abandoning the professional status, we could not enter into receivership and save the club. By going in the best case scenario to National, we found ourselves with a hole in the coffers of 25 million impossible to maintain. It was liquidation assured.”
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His role in the descent into hell
Gérard Lopez is sticking to the course he set for himself: rebuilding the club. And if he mentions “decisions that were probably not good”he has difficulty digesting criticism of his management. “It’s not up to me to say whether I’m good or not good. I have proven in the past that I could be. Afterwards, you have to have a bit of luck. Football doesn’t depend on a president, a coach, a striker. Here, we are going to announce this week players who have absolutely no place in N2 but who come because they believe in the project, the coach believes in it too. To be really on the right track, we will have to be right in sporting terms and the sporting aspect does not depend only on me. There is also a lot of bad luck, a financial burden that has always existed. Am I the right president? I don’t know. Am I trying to do the right things? Yes, certainly. Am I paying to do these things? Yes, of course.”
Investors still interested
Gérard Lopez also talks about the future without setting a timetable, but with the objective of returning to Ligue 1. And he denies staying to recover the personal money invested since his arrival. “On the way from N2 to L2, I don’t see how I can get anything back. If someone pays in my place, how could they reimburse me for anything? It doesn’t exist. Frankly, it seems like there was a collective brainwashing in Bordeaux this summer, as if I didn’t want to sit on my 40 million while waiting for someone to come along and give me 40, 20 or 5. Not even in my dreams.”
So he remains in charge, has “don’t want to abandon ship“and continues to count on the support of investors. A circle of local investors ready to join the project without revealing their identity or the amount of their commitment. He also assures that he is still in contact with several investors, all American, who could join the club as minority shareholders.”It never stopped. Among the fifteen investors we had, there are six or seven with whom I have links elsewhere. So in some cases, the Bordeaux file is still on the table. These rather verbal discussions could then intensify, without necessarily being for this year. But we are leaving the door open, because we want to get the machine going again. It would be simpler with investors. To go back to L2 or even L1, I think we need to count on 25 to 35 million euros.“
Ultramarines and North Gate
Gérard Lopez has finally spoken out on the conflict that has been going on for several months between the two ultras clubs, the Ultramarines and the North Gate.It’s something that doesn’t please me. It’s something that causes us problems, that causes problems for the Prefecture in terms of security. At some point, we will take measures that will be definitive. Let’s hope that there are solutions, but they can’t come from the club. We are aware of certain things that are unacceptable. Just one slip-up would be one too many. If that’s the case, we will act quite forcefully.”
