It would take a miracle for Sochaux to move to Ligue 2 next year, but nothing is lost yet. This Tuesday, the CNOSF issued an unfavorable opinion concerning the rescue plan for the almost century-old football club, which has been playing its future in the professional world for several weeks now.
The French Federation should, in all likelihood, ratify this decision this Thursday morning. According to information from Republican East, which we are able to confirm, a Comex meeting will be held from 9 a.m. by videoconference to discuss, among other things, this subject. A major episode but which will not necessarily be the last of this sad soap opera. Romain Peugeot, great-grandson of the founder, and strong man of the takeover project following the withdrawal of the Chinese shareholder, Nenking, will indeed seize the administrative court and appeal the opinion of the CNOSF.
” Two weights, two measures “
This financier is offended by the “double standard” between the treatment reserved on the one hand for FC Sochaux and on the other, in Bordeaux or Châteauroux in recent years. According to him, his project deserves to be analyzed again by the DNCG and highlights its political support, up to that of the Elysée, which is indeed following the file closely. According to a member of the Comex, the chances of seeing the FFF withdraw the CNOSF, however, remained minimal this Wednesday noon. But things have time to evolve.
It is the survival of the Franche-Comté club which is at stake in the coming hours. The takeover offer, and the participation of a certain number of private and public investors which resulted from it, is indeed conditional on maintaining in Ligue 2. It is Annecy, 17th at the end of the last exercise and therefore relegated , which should logically take advantage of this decision to maintain itself, while the new season will begin on Saturday evening.
The Cursed Chinese Leaders
FC Sochaux, a stronghold of French football, risks filing for bankruptcy and returning to National 3 (5th level). This would imply the disappearance of the training center – also a reference – and many job losses (150 employees at the club). Several club figures are trying to prevent this outcome, including former president Jean-Claude Plessis (1999-2008).
Founded in 1928 in the cradle of the car manufacturer Peugeot, the club, double winner of the championship (1935, 1938) and the Coupe de France (1937, 2007), was a model of stability for nearly 90 years when it was held by the family of the same name. But in a few years, its Chinese owners, who arrived in 2019, pushed it to the brink of bankruptcy. “The management was not solid”, notes Freddy Vandekerkhove, “team manager”, who still hopes for a “miracle”.
Charles Demouge, president of Pays de Montbéliard Agglomeration, expressed his “anger” towards Chinese investors on Tuesday evening. “It’s a loss of our cultural heritage, it’s a human and economic disaster that has never had precedent in the sports world,” he lamented.
This Wednesday morning, a training session still took place at the Bonal stadium. In front of almost empty stands, and in a somewhat gloomy atmosphere, a match ended up going up unexpectedly with children and teenagers present for the occasion. The sign that despite the anguish, despite the doubts, everyone can’t help but keep a mad and fragile hope.
