French giants Bordeaux give up professional status with contracts of each squad member to be terminated

French giants Bordeaux give up professional status with contracts of each squad member to be terminated

Six-time Ligue 1 champions Bordeaux have renounced their professional status following financial struggles.

In a sad day for the once-great French football club, Bordeaux's money problems have caught up with them, which has forced them into drastic action.

3 Bordeaux's financial troubles have caught up with them Credit: AFP

Liverpool owners FSG were in talks to purchase the club, but negotiations broke down this week, leaving the Navy and Whites in a perilous position.

After being handed an administrative relegation, Bordeaux have now decided to abandon their professional status, reports local outlet Sud Ouest.

They had finished third in Ligue 2 last season, having been relegated from the top-tier in 2022.

Bordeaux communicated to the French Football Federation (FFF) that they would go through with the action, losing the status they have held since 1937.

It means that all the professional players at the club will be released upon the termination of their contracts.

The club's famous academy, from which players such as Jules Kounde, Abdou Traore and Aurelien Tchouameni graduated, has also been closed.

Bordeaux were relegated to the third-tier of French football after financial stipulations.

An audition is set to be heard by the Championnat National over whether or not their budget will be approved.

3 Liverpool's owners FSG pulled out of talks to purchase the club Credit: Getty

3 Bordeaux will have to terminate every player's contract Credit: AFP

But with little hope of such a case going through, the club took matters in their own hands by deciding their own destiny.

Bordeaux have a rich history in French football, having won the Ligue 1 title six times - the last being in 2008/09.

Thierry Henry shows he's still got it as he joins in with France training ahead of the Paris Olympics

They first won the league in 1949/50, before going on to lift the title in 1983/84, 1984/85, 1986/87 and 1998/99.

As well as having success in Ligue 1, they won Ligue 2 in 1991/92, as well as scooping the Coupe de France four times in 1941, 1986, 18987 and 2013.

Zinedine Zidane made his name at the club after joining the south-western outfit in 1992 from Cannes, playing there for four years before signing for Juventus.

Click here to read article