Bordeaux saw their chances of rising in Ligue 1 go up in smoke on Monday with the loss on green carpet of the match against Rodez, during which a supporter attacked an opposing player, a sanction that the Girondins intend to contest. The Disciplinary Committee imposed a sanction on the Bordeaux club, third, condemning it to remain in Ligue 2 next season, unless its appeal is successful. Conversely, this allows FC Metz, second, to validate its rise in the elite, with three points ahead of its competitor.
These theoretical consequences remain suspended, however, on the remedies in which the Girondins will engage. The Professional Football League made no mention of the final classification in its press release and was not immediately available to provide details.
The decision rendered on Monday was awaited with excitement as much from the side of Bordeaux and Metz, neck and neck for the ascent to L1, as from Rodez and Annecy, engaged in a fight for maintenance. On June 2, the match was interrupted in the first half after a Bordeaux supporter who had come down from the stands attacked a Rodez Aveyron Football (RAF) player, Lucas Buades, who had just opened the scoring. The referee sent the two teams back to the locker room in the 23rd minute before making a final stoppage later.
Meeting for the first time on June 5, the disciplinary committee had placed the file under investigation “in view of the seriousness of the facts” and chose not to recognize the result of the match pending the conclusions of the investigation. These were discussed early Monday afternoon, at the premises of the League in Paris, within the body led by Sébastien Deneux. The two clubs, and in particular the Girondin president Gérard Lopez, were able to make their arguments heard again.
In the process, the Bordeaux club denounced a decision “as incomprehensible as it is disproportionate, both in view of the elements of the file and the case law”. He announced “to seize as soon as possible” the French National Olympic and Sports Committee (CNOSF) to, he says, “defend his rights and sports equity”.
Led 1-0 by Rodez before the interruption, Bordeaux should have won by at least five goals in this final meeting of the season to steal second place from Metz, three points ahead with a more favorable goal difference. . On Saturday, the Girondins had indicated that they wanted to replay the match, without receiving any sanction, claiming not to have “experienced any acts of violence in recent years, in particular because of the constant work carried out” in connection with the groups of supporters. They also questioned the seriousness of the injury attributed to Lucas Buades and believed that Rodez had not “cooperated spontaneously with the investigators”.
In Metz, on the other hand, relief prevails. Monday’s decision “confirms FC Metz’s second place in the final standings” of L2, said the Lorraine team, happy to be able to “fully prepare for the 2023-2024 season in Ligue 1”.
For their part, the Ruthénois believe that the defeat on the green carpet of Bordeaux “generates the victory of Rodez and the mathematical maintenance of the club for the 5th consecutive year”. “By the investigation and the verdict of the LFP commission, all the light has been shed on this file and confirms the probity of the club,” he wrote. Maintaining Rodez would, on the contrary, send Annecy to National 1, the third division.