DNCG confirms Girondins de Bordeaux's relegation to sixth division, liquidation looms

The appeals board of the Direction nationale du contrôle de gestion (DNCG) confirmed on Wednesday, July 15 the exclusion of Girondins de Bordeaux from national competitions at the end of the 2025/2026 season, sealing the administrative relegation of the club to the sixth division. The verdict, delivered after hearing owner Gérard Lopez and general manager Arnaud Saint-André, is final: “The DNCG confirms and pronounces a measure of exclusion from national competitions for the men’s first team at the end of the 2025/2026 season.”

Two weeks ago, the DNCG had pronounced this relegation to Régional 1 for the first time. The club had then appealed, forced to find 10 million euros to shore up its finances. Negotiations with investment fund Sparta Capital failed, making the mission impossible and the sentence inevitable.

The financial situation of FCGB is now critical. According to L’Équipe, a meeting has been scheduled with the commercial court regarding the possible opening of a judicial liquidation procedure. In the event of liquidation, the association alone would have to assume the charges linked to the club’s affiliation number, approximately 5 million euros. No potential buyer has come forward to date.

The fall of the Girondins is as brutal as it is rapid. Six-time French champions, with their last title in 2009, four-time Coupe de France winners — their last trophy dating back to 2013 — the club with the scapular had also shone on the European stage. The descent into hell began in 2022, just one year after Gérard Lopez’s arrival at the helm of the club. In three years, Bordeaux has gone from Ligue 1 to the threat of outright disappearance, illustrating the structural fragility of institutions once thought untouchable in French football.