Today coach of the Algerian national team, Vladimir Petkovic is a figure known to football fans for his memorable time with Switzerland, notably during Euro 2020 where he eliminated France in the round of 16. However, his experience in Ligue 1 with the Girondins de Bordeaux, between July 2021 and February 2022, remains a much darker page in his career.
Recruited by president Gérard Lopez to turn around a club in difficulty, the Swiss coach has never managed to find the winning formula. In six months, the poor results continued, propelling Bordeaux to the brink of the abyss. In February 2022,
the club took the decision to dismiss him for serious misconducta measure which allowed him not to pay the compensation due over the remaining two and a half years of the contract.
Faced with this dismissal, Vladimir Petkovic and his deputy, Antonio Manicone, initiated legal proceedings to challenge this decision. They demanded 13.6 million euros and nearly one million euros in compensation respectively. After two years of battle in court, the verdict fell on November 29, 2024: the industrial tribunal rejected their requests and ordered them to pay 35,000 euros in procedural costs to the club.
This decision represents a breath of fresh air for Bordeaux, today in National 2 (French fourth division) and in receivership. The club had set aside several million euros in anticipation of this dispute, and this favorable outcome allows it to avoid further financial bleeding in a critical period.
If Vladimir Petkovic has since bounced back by taking the reins of Algeria, this affair with his former club still stuck in his throat. Despite a respectable international record, his time in Bordeaux remains a tumultuous period marked by rather disappointing results and a legal battle which is now closed.
DZfoot
France
Soccer
