L’Équipe report this afternoon that Sochaux have seen their appeal against their administrative relegation from Ligue 2 rejected by the French Olympic Committee, meaning the club is now on the verge of bankruptcy.
The DNCG – French football’s financial watchdog – had handed the former Ligue 1 side the sanction over their financial troubles earlier this summer.
An attempt to save the club saw Romain Peugeot – the grandson of the team’s founder – join forces with local investors and present a project to acquire it for a symbolic euro from Chinese conglomerate Nenking. However, the takeover would only go through if the club had remained in Ligue 2.
However, reports this weekend indicated that Nenking had pulled out of an agreement whereby they would provide €4m of the €12m requested by the DNCG. Peugeot had sought to secure a Plan B to bring together the remaining funds, ultimately to no avail. Reportedly, the CNOSF commission believes that there were too many new elements to the project that Sochaux put forward, with respect to the one they presented to the DNCG. The decision means that Annecy are expected to retain their spot in Ligue 2, four days before the start of the season.
GFFN | Raphaël Jucobin
