Bordeaux files for bankruptcy after takeover talks with Liverpool owners fail

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Bordeaux have filed for bankruptcy just days after being relegated to the third division of French football after Liverpool FC’s owner pulled out of takeover talks, the former Ligue 1 club announced on Thursday.

As one of the country’s few clubs in terms of trophies, it marks a sour note in French sport as the country prepares to host the Olympic Games in Paris.

Earlier this month, the six-time French champion was demoted from Ligue 2 by the National Management Control Directorate due to financial problems.

Once Liverpool’s parent company, Fenway Sports Group (FSG), pulled out of takeover talks, it effectively ended the club’s hopes of survival.

“This is a difficult decision that anticipates an inevitable consequence of the ongoing restructuring process,” the club said in a statement. It had previously also insisted that the demotion would allow it to “come back stronger and at the highest level”, after FSG chose not to continue negotiations with the club.

Bordeaux will also give up its professional status, which it has held since 1937, and close its famous academy, which has helped develop players such as Bixente Lizarazu, Jules Kounde and Zinedine Zidane.

Chairman Gerard Lopez previously owned another French club, Lille, before buying Bordeaux three years ago. He also runs Portuguese club Boavista and has been involved in Formula One with Renault through his investment firm Genii Capital.

Bordeaux were founded over a century ago, in 1920, and won the most recent of their six top-flight titles in 2009. They reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League the following season, while they were also UEFA Cup runners-up in 1996, losing in the final to Bayern Munich.

Bordeaux were previously in administration in 2021 due to financial difficulties and finished mid-table in the second division last year under head coach Albert Riera – coincidentally a former player for the French club and Liverpool.

Additional reporting by Tommy Lund for Reuters

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