Girondins de Bordeaux. « Jamais je n’aurais pu imaginer que le club en arrive là », lance Jean-Louis Triaud
How do you feel today?
I am both surprised and disappointed. The first choice that I say to myself is: how could we have fallen so low sportingly? It would have been possible to win during the season the match, or the two matches which would have made it possible to remain in Ligue 1. Recruitment was not of the expected qualitative level but there were lower numbers than ours. If I cross the media, the sports management of the group left something to be desired. But I did not expect this last team with so few points. Afterwards, there is a financial situation which is very complicated with losses, debts and irresponsible financial management in recent years.
As a director, what elements do you retain on the current financial situation?
Gérard Lopez was transparent. We knew the numbers, we knew this season would be complicated. The budget was made with a ranking (8th, editor’s note) far from the final one. But he seemed quite sure of himself on the solutions proposed to the DNCG Appeal Board. The plan seemed coherent. If our information was good, the 14 million euros missing for the balance could be paid by the creditors (Fortress, editor’s note). It was a line of credit, but it is realistic to say that we can find 14 million euros of transfer on the workforce, not in the current uncertainty, but from the moment when the club would have been confirmed in L2. Afterwards, would that have been enough to improve the situation for the following season? I don’t know from the spiral. When I was operational, we were not used to this kind of difficulty. There is an incredible drift. GACP’s share of responsibility is enormous. Mr. Lopez may have been optimistic in thinking that he could restore the situation.
The structural deficit that activated under M6 from 2011 appears to be the start of the slide. Is there a share of responsibility?
Already, if M6 had been more respected, maybe they would still be around today. They were the subject of permanent criticism: when the club was 5th or 6th, it was considered insufficient. When we won a League Cup, we denigrated the value of the competition. The deficit, at the time of M6, was 6-7 million euros. The transfer of a player would have been enough. Rather than weakening the team, the shareholder has often preferred to provide cash to fill the gap.
Was M6 too negligent in selling to GACP?
Were there elements that provided the alert? I don’t know, I was no longer in office. The buyer introduced himself. He honored his financial commitments, nothing justified mistrust. Experience shows that GACP was not credible. But it is also surprising that large investment funds such as King Street and Fortress have trusted them.
Last season, after owner King Street pulled out, the option of a takeover via receivership was on the table. Did you push in this direction with Jean-Didier Lange (former chairman from 1991 to 1999 and director, who died in November 2021)?
The Federation and the Professional Football League had said that, due to the Covid, a transition to recovery would exceptionally not be sanctioned with a demotion. When we discussed it with Jean-Didier, we said to ourselves that it was an opportunity to update the accounts while remaining in Ligue 1. It was said that ultimately this measure could not apply because another underlined that it was necessary to maintain equity between the clubs. I found it curious that the LFP overturned a decision it made itself. And where is the fairness when we talk about Paris SG, with a state shareholder, and Monaco, with its tax advantages? We said to ourselves that it was worth putting the authorities before their contradictions. But the buyers ruled out that it was too risky and thought they could manage the financial situation and balance the term accounts.
Have you had Gérard Lopez on the phone since the decision?
No.
Do you still have hope with the remaining remedies (CNOSF, administrative court)?
I don’t know the reasons for the DNCG’s decision. I think that the DNCG of the FFF is a serious structure, is not a place of settling scores and that their supporting documents will be admissible. I would not understand that we make a club like ours disappear, with the layoff of several dozen employees, with lightness. Why refuse a project that at least allows the season to start? What we presented to Mr. Lopez seemed viable. From now on, the deadlines are very short.
Can you imagine the club leaving National 3?
No, I can’t assimilate it and project myself into it… I never could have imagined that it could come to this. Once again, with the file presented to us, I am surprised. It’s happened to others, but it’s complicated and long, and probably more and more complicated with the coming tightening of L1 and L2 to 18 clubs.
If the club were to rebuild from the N3, would you be ready to get involved?