Expected, to be able to officially seize the National Olympic and French Committee and as a new basis of work…
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Expected, in order to be able to officially seize the National Olympic and French Committee and as a new basis for work, the reasoned decision of the DNCG Appeal Commission of the Federation (FFF) has brought to light numerous disagreements on the financial project between the reading of its members and that of the Girondins, both in substance and in form. The Bordeaux leaders and their Fortress and King Street creditors will have a week to ten days to rework their copy with, still at the heart, the 40 million euros necessary to validate the 2022-2023 budget and the debt to be restructured.
Noël Le Graët invites himself
The last, major element of a day again incredible and started at breakfast with the passage of the president of the FFF Noël Le Graët in the program Télématin on France 2. Asked about the situation of the Girondins, pushed towards liquidation judicial by the sanction, the Breton had not made feeling. “It’s a shame for Bordeaux, but the risks that have been taken are a bit insane. The best relationship for me is Strasbourg (in 2011). I had advised: Descend (as an amateur, editor’s note), you will never be able to repay. It was done and done well. “Without the name of the federal boss ever being cited, Le Graët’s statement hovered several times, Laurent Cotret evoking “hazardous parallels”.
“Le Mans, Strasbourg, at the time, are not relevant examples, because they could no longer meet their current liabilities with their available assets. We are absolutely not in this hypothesis. We can meet our current liabilities with our available assets as is, and we can do so throughout the season (2022-2023),” the lawyer continued. “These clubs were no longer paying anything. This is not the case here, ”added Gérard Lopez.
Viable, but…
For an hour, in the new press room of the extension of the pro center inaugurated for the occasion as an assumed symbol of a club which sees a future at high level, the leaders explained and justified their project presented Tuesday in appeal . They supported the viability they gave for the coming year, citing the renowned law firms and accountants who participated, and especially the validation by the Commercial Court of Bordeaux.
“We want this file to be reviewed in a factual way, without political charge”
The responses to the shortcomings highlighted by the DNCG in the first instance therefore did not hold up in the eyes of the members (essentially specialized lawyers and chartered accountants) of the Appeals Commission. According to our information, two main points have not been validated: the transfer of half of the debt (i.e. 26 million euros) owed by the Girondins to the American investment funds King Street and Fortress to the company JB Dynamie, created last year in Luxembourg to intersperse the legal ownership of the group between Jogo Bonito Group (the holding company) and La Dynamie (parent company of the Girondins), and the contract with Fortress for the guarantee in the form of a bond line of credit for the promised 14 million player sales.
This is a guarantee
The agreements made with the creditors were also contested because judged under suspensive conditions (that is to say that they would only be valid in the event of maintenance in Ligue 2) by the Commission when the club ensures that they are subject to resolutory conditions (i.e. effective but revoked if the club is not maintained in Ligue 2).
Gérard Lopez and his advisers will therefore have to relaunch discussions with King Street and Fortress on the two aspects which have been worth the balance of power for two months: an abandonment of part of the debt by the funds or a transfer of responsibility where the club would be totally excluded; placing in a blocked account the 14 million euros requested. The Girondins will have had at least one good news: not counted by the Commission because not voted on the date of the hearing, the postponement in 2026 of the payment of the 4.22 million euros due to the Metropolis for 2022-2023 the was yesterday.
“We want this file to be reviewed in a factual way, without political charge”, launched Gérard Lopez. The battle looks tough.
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