The tragic saga continues. After giving up their professional status, bankrupting the club and terminating players' contracts, Girondins' situation is parlous. To make matters worse, stadium operator Matmut Atlantique has demanded a renegotiation of the stadium use agreement. Talks are already set to get underway.

Renegotiating with a bankrupt

Since the end of July, when we first reported on Girondins' problems and their impact on the stadium, the club's situation has worsened. At the time, Loïc Duroselle, the president of the operator of Matmut Atlantique, the SBA company, said that it was too early to talk about the impact of Girondins' bankruptcy on the stadium, because "the sporting, financial and legal situation of the club must first be fully clarified". Apparently everything is already clear, as the SBA has asked the city to renegotiate the contract.

The reason, of course, is that the club has declared bankruptcy and given up its professional status, which means automatic termination of the contracts of all players and relegation. As it turned out on August 1, not to the third, but all the way down to the fourth league - Championnat National 2. The club has until today to appeal the decision.

© Nouveau Stade Bordeaux

As a result, the six-time French champion will be forced to rebuild from scratch in a lower league and Bordeaux, the sixth largest city in France, will be left without a professional football team. It also means that one of the country's most modern stadiums will fall out of professional football.

“Critical” situation

According to Ouest-France, the company wants to renegotiate the contract and argues that a state-of-the-art stadium with a capacity of 42,000 cannot serve a game in the 4th division, as this will lead to financial ruin. It also believes that Girondins Bordeaux, by giving up its professional status, has automatically relinquished playing in a professional facility for which it should be paying €3.85 million a year.

The annual deficit was previously supposed to be €2-3m due to playing in Ligue 2, which had already led the SBA to call for a renegotiation. Now, faced with an "unprecedented" and "critical" situation, the company is more resolute. "The SBA calls on the Metropolis of Bordeaux to convene an early meeting of the parties involved in the operation of the stadium in order [...] to consider any solutions that may be proposed," as we can read in the statement. The club's bankruptcy means that the owner, the city, will cover the rent.

Girondins want to stay at Matmut Atlantique

The future fate of the stadium, however, is not clear. The vision of getting another host for the stadium seems very difficult, especially just before the start of the season. Turning the stadium into a concert hall could save at least some of the revenue, but this will fall in 2025 with the end of the stadium's naming contract with insurer Mamut. It is doubtful that another company would want to take on a sponsorship deal in the current situation.

© Claude Garrigues

L'Équipe reported that Girondins intend to stay at the stadium, but are unable to pay the rent. According to the newspaper, talks are already underway between the club and the city to find an optimal solution. However, it is not clear whether it will be in the shape the SBA has asked for. Even if the talks lead to a new deal being worked out, the issue of facility maintenance, reduced revenues and growing debts mean that the spectre of the closure of the stadium built for Euro 2016 still hangs over Bordeaux.