All the shenanigans (stronger words are available) involving Manchester City will come into sharper focus at Anfield on Sunday. Meanwhile, in France…
Six-time French champions Bordeaux, who were sanctioned in the summer for financial irregularities, will play the current season in the sixth tier of French football. Bordeaux were sanctioned for failing to provide the roughly 10 million euros (£8.5million) needed for the 2025-2026 financial year as well as 2026-2027 and meet debt payments.
Once one of France’s leading football clubs and the team where the country’s new head coach Zinedine Zidane made his name, Bordeaux was sold last month for a symbolic one euro to US-based investment group Park Bench who agreed to take on the remaining debt.
Two days after appearing before the oversight commission of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine league, which approved their recovery budget and issued “a positive opinion on their possible participation in Regional 1,” the club was unanimously approved to play in the top tier.
The new owners are due in commercial court on October 20 to ratify the new continuation plan, which now runs over 12 years, with the debt halved from 26 to 13 million euros.
The team is largely amateur although they are permitted five players on professional contracts, one of which will go to former Ligue 1 striker Baptiste Guillaume.
