One of Paris Saint-Germain’s biggest revelations during their 2023 pre-season tour, Lemina gathered interest from multiple clubs when the capital club returned to France. The Gabon international ultimately joined Serie B side Sampdoria but failed to make an impact, playing only 15 minutes with the first team. Returning to PSG in January, Lemina went back on loan to Wolverhampton, failing to make a single appearance with the first team and playing three games with the reserve team in Premier League 2. 

With his contract set to expire next summer, Noha Lemina is set to leave PSG prior to the end of his deal and join FC Annecy on a permanent transfer, rapports L’Equipe. The Ligue 2 side finished 14th last season. 

GFFN l Grégoire Devaux 

Romain Peugeot, a private investor and the great-grandson of the club’s founder, tried to raise the required funds to save Sochaux, to no avail. On Wednesday, Peugeot then tried to appeal the CNOSF ruling before the Paris’ administrative court. However, according to L’Est Républicain, this appeal was denied as well. With Sochaux likely unable to prepare a budget for a season in the third-tier, the club is now heading for an imminent bankruptcy. Peugeot has reportedly thrown in the towel for his proposed takeover of Sochaux.

With Ligue 2 set to start as early as this Saturday, the League has announced that it has triggered Article 520 of their administrative rules, allowing the last relegated Ligue 2 side to be drafted back into the second-tier. The LFP added that Annecy will therefore kick-off their Ligue 2 season this Saturday against Guingamp. Due to the very short delay to stage the game, Annecy v Guingamp will be played behind closed doors.

GFFN | Bastien Cheval

The Doubs side, owned by Chinese conglomerate Nenking Group, were sanctioned due to their financial struggles for two seasons now. It did not take long for Annecy to declare victory and announce they would replace Sochaux in the 2023-2024 Ligue 2 season, as is customary for the last relegated side to benefit from a rival’s administrative relegation. “We have also taken note of the decisions of the DNCG that our request [to play in a 21-club Ligue 2] has now become irrelevant”, Annecy wrote in their press release. “In view of these elements, the Football Club of Annecy remains in Ligue 2 BKT for the 2023-2024 season, and will now focus on building a team worthy of this championship.”

Annecy adds that their head coach Laurent Guyot has extended his contract. However, the press release failed to mention that Sochaux will, as expected, appeal their administrative relegation into National. It means that Annecy may just have given false hopes to their fans.

GFFN | Bastien Cheval

The Savoy side had challenged the French football authorities to arrange a 21-club Ligue 2 for next season following the decision to not have the Bordeaux vs Rodez game replayed. Rodez were declared winners of that matchday 38 game by the League’s disciplinary committee after a Bordeaux ultra had shoved Rodez’s goalscorer to the ground. Bordeaux’s appeal in front of the Comité National Olympique et Sportif Français, France’s highest sporting authority, has been dismissed. Les Girondins reluctantly took notice of the decision and confirmed they would play in Ligue 2 next season.

The decision to give Rodez a default win had implications on both ends of the Ligue 2 table. Bordeaux fumbled the opportunity to leapfrog second-placed Metz in the standings whilst Annecy fell to 17th place, courtesy of Rodez’s win. Annecy and Rodez engaged in a bitter war of words, the former accusing the latter of “elaborate cheating.” The Savoy side’s final resort was to request a 21-club Ligue 2. The decision would have meant a 42-matchday long season with five relegations instead of four. The TV rights money would also have been split into 21.

The League said no and justified its decision by saying everything has been done by the book in this case, meaning Rodez would remain in Ligue 2 and Annecy would go down in National.

GFFN | Bastien Cheval

The match, which was called off after a Bordeaux ultra ran onto the pitch to push opposition goalscorer Lucas Buades, had ramifications at both ends of the table. The result dashed the home side’s hopes of promotion, while the fact that Rodez have been awarded the win has secured their Ligue 2 status at Annecy’s expense.

This afternoon’s statement is the latest chapter in a bitter feud between the Savoy club and Rodez. Annecy notably highlight the fact that their relegation from the second tier was down to circumstances which were out of their hands. Sensationally, the club goes on to accuse Buades of feigning the injury in order to end the match early while his team were ahead in order to secure safety, with the support of the club’s upper management.

Annecy go on to point out that the end-of-season table has yet to be finalised, and that they consider themselves to still be in Ligue 2, pending the Competitions Commission’s decree. The team adds that they have begun consulting with their legal team over further action, including appeals with the various governing bodies of French sport (Bordeaux have also sent an appeal to the French Olympic Committee) and a legal complaint over “sporting corruption” against Buades and Annecy.

They conclude by calling for a potential resolution to the conflict by expanding next season’s Ligue 2 to 21 teams, and that the squad will be proceeding this summer as though they are still in the second division.

GFFN | Raphaël Jucobin

On Monday, the Bordeaux-Rodez game has been declared a defeat for the home side. The decision has huge implications at both ends of the Ligue 2 table. Bordeaux needed a win with a 5-goal lead in order to be promoted to Ligue 1. As of now, they will spend another season in the second tier and second-placed Metz will join Le Havre in the top flight. Meanwhile, Rodez look set to have reached safety with those crucial three points, meaning that Annecy have gone down to National 1. Annecy and Rodez’s bitter feud over the game’s result is expected to continue.

[Communiqué] La Commission de Discipline de la LFP a prononcé ce jour une décision aussi incompréhensible que disproportionnée, tant au regard des éléments du dossier que de la jurisprudence.

Le FC Girondins de Bordeaux va saisir dans les plus brefs délais le CNOSF pour défendre… pic.twitter.com/WAltad7FRF

— FC Girondins de Bordeaux (@girondins) June 12, 2023

Bordeaux have also been docked a point for the upcoming Ligue 2 season. The Sud End of the Matmut Atlantique will be closed for four games, including two suspended. Bordeaux have, however, decided to appeal against the league authorities’ “unjustified and disproportionate” decision and take the case to the CNOSF, the Comité National Olympique et Sportif Français, the highest sporting authority in France.

GFFN | Bastien Cheval

The league authorities will convene on Monday to adjudicate and decide whether Bordeaux vs Rodez would be replayed or declared lost by Bordeaux. This very situation would play right in Rodez’s hands, considering the 17th-placed side would be declared winners and avoid a relegation down to National 1, to the detriment of 16th-placed Annecy. The Savoy side, who lost to Paris FC on Friday, have released a somewhat aggressive statement on Sunday. “Taking advantage of external events to reach safety, betraying football, is contrary to sporting ethics“, have declared Annecy president Sebastien Faraglia. “We would not accept Rodez to be given a default win, because it would be a most elaborate form of cheating.“

Faraglia doubled down on his comments by declaring FC Annecy would sue Rodez and request financial compensation, should the Savoy side be relegated. He even insinuated that Rodez had lied to the league authorities, presumably regarding the condition of Buades following the altercation.

On Sunday afternoon, Rodez replied to Annecy by calling their accusations of elaborate cheating a disgrace. “This statement is unacceptable. One can’t declare that on-pitch violence is unacceptable and criticise the victims of this very same violence all at the same time.” Rodez added they would retain the right to instigate judicial proceedings over Annecy’s statement.

GFFN | Bastien Cheval

The Savoy side, who eliminated Marseille in the Coupe de France quarter-finals, lost to Paris FC last Friday night. They are 16th and, as of now, safe. But their survival is now out of their hands following the suspension and cancellation of the Bordeaux vs Rodez game. Rodez are 17th and currently in the drop zone. But RAF were leading 1-0 against Les Girondins when their goal-scorer was assaulted by a Bordeaux fan. The league authorities will convene on Monday to adjudicate on the game’s result. Rodez are likely to be be declared winners. Should that be the case, they would be safe and Annecy would join Niort, Nîmes and Dijon in the third tier.

GFFN | Bastien Cheval

The semi-finals will be played on April 4 and 5. For current holders Nantes, who eliminated Lens in a behind closed doors quarter-final, the opportunity to book their place for a second final in a row in front of their fateful Beaujoire fans will be one to look forward to. Last season, Les Canaris eliminated Monaco on penalties in the semi-final stage and fans invaded the pitch en masse. This Ligue 1 season, Nantes and Lyon produced a very forgettable 0-0 stalemate, but next month, there will be a winner between Nantes and Lyon head coaches Antoine Kombouaré and Laurent Blanc, who happen to be close friends.

The winner of this tie will presumably be the favourites to win the final with Annecy being drawn to face Toulouse in the other semi-final. The Philippe Montanier-led side will be odds-on against the Ligue 2 outfit, but the Savoy side may just have another upset up their sleeves.

GFFN | Bastien Cheval

Mid-table Ligue 2 side Annecy shocked Les Phocéens on Wednesday night. In front of a packed Vélodrome crowd, they beat Marseille on penalties (7-6) after the home side had given themselves a lifeline in normal time. François-Régis Mughe scored a 96th-minute equaliser before Leonardo Balerdi missed the decsivie spot-kick. 

The defeat came just days after Paris Saint-Germain beat Marseille at the Vélodrome. Following that result, Mbappé was videoed in the dressing room, congratulating his teammates and shouting “That’s a day’s work.”

The Annecy squad imitated that reaction in the very same dressing room after Wednesday’s shock victory. “Oh Kyky (Mbappé), you don’t do the work, this is a day’s work,” said one player as he entered the dressing room. Other players then also mimicked the celebration as they entered the dressing room, repeating Mbappé’s mantra after a memorable and famous victory at the Vélodrome.

GFFN | Luke Entwistle