In recent months, the news of the Girondins de Bordeaux is rich. Immersed in an unprecedented financial crisis, the Bordeaux club, today in National 2, could have been bought by a consortium made up of Oliver Kahn, the legend of Bayern Munich, and the former president of Olympique de Marseille, Jacques-Henri Eyraud. Yes but here, after several weeks of negotiations, the former German legend finally decided to throw in the towel. For his part, Bordeaux – who saw the Commercial Court validate the continuation plan to spread its debt over time – was sanctioned by the DNCG of a supervision of its payroll. An aborted project that did not fail to annoy Gérard Lopez, the current owner of the club. In an interview with Sunday newspaperthe Hispano-Luxembourg businessman had not hesitated to point the finger at the former Munich borth.
An attractive project …
“When we look at those who have pointed out, a group landed in the finance police, quite simply for having been dishonest, there was Oliver Kahn and Jacques-Henri Eyraud who arrived with 30 million, then 15 million with a document that the court found eccentric, then 50 million which were in fact zero: the court forced them to respond officially, he never received a proof of funds. Coming from Oliver Kahn, with a career like his … I admit that it was a little shocking for everyone, even ridiculous. Football drives everyone crazy, including me. In a normal society that loses money at all costs, I would never put 40 million euros. In football, I did it ”notably swept away the current boss of the club to the scapular. This Monday, Oliver Kahn finally decided to get out of the silence to justify his premature exit. During an interview with Beyong Business Castthe 56 -year -old German first explained his choice to bet on the Girondins de Bordeaux.
“After four years in Bayern, you have to shake a little. So, of course, it ends painfully, but that's exactly what you learn when you are a high -level sportsman, and you have to apply it in such moments. So you have to shake yourself and I just wondered what was the next step. And then, of course, I quickly arrived on this subject of a club. This is an extremely attractive subject at the moment. It should be remembered that 60% of clubs in Europe belong to Americans. And there, we wonder why do they all invest in there? There are many reasons, but one of them is that clubs in Europe are much cheaper than in the United States. But it is also in relation to the fact that in Europe, clubs can be relegated, so the risk of investing is also higher, and that is why clubs are cheaper than an American franchise ”started by developing the native of Karlsruhe.
… but far too risky
And add: “Regarding myself, I also have to have fun somewhere, I have to wonder if I invest in a football club, or if I take advantage of a minority participation. We looked at second or third division clubs. There are clubs that require resources, but then an expertise, a network, to bring them back to the first division. And it's something super exciting. This is why we focused precisely on this subject. This decision is now public, and it was Bordeaux. It is a club with a great heritage, which has experienced a big fire in the past. I won my first title, the UEFA Cup final in 1996 against the Girondins de Bordeaux, those of Bixente Lizarazu, Zinedine Zidane, Christophe Dugarry … five years ago, they played in the Champions League (Europa League in 2018/2019 editor's note) and today due to financial problems, they are in fourth division. They were in the second but they were forced to go back to fourth for these financial problems “. First seduced by the idea of buying the Girondins de Bordeaux, Kahn ended up withdrawing his buyout offer. A decision he also wanted to explain.
“Our idea was to bring them back to the first division. It was not to passively make investments and that it works in one way or another, but it was to get involved actively, with all the experience of our network. It is not possible to do so in Germany with majority investments and thus have an influence, with the 50+1 rule. Finally, we left Bordeaux earlier. It was very complicated, very complicated. It is a bankruptcy procedure. We have been on the file for more than six months. We had to be given at some point because there was a deadline. So we made this decision. Nor do we have all 100%data. We had calculated everything, the business plans were there. In the end, you have a responsibility, and you must make a decision at some point. There was a point where we did not have total security. If you buy a French club in this process, the French Football Federation may agree, but you still have to go back to a division … It is understandable in the sense that if a club wants to get rid of its debts says simply 'Come on, we put ourselves bankrupt'. So this club must be in punished quotes. Well, I find that it is stupid, but not the federation that could have come down the club in fifth division, and maybe even more, the sixth … There, you need ten or twelve years and that is not possible “. In need of guarantees, Oliver Kahn therefore threw in the towel, formalizing his non-entry in the capital of the club.
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