A former UEFA Champions League team has confirmed it is giving up its status as a professional football club after the owners of Liverpool withdrew their bid to buy the side.
French outfit Bordeaux have revealed that they are renouncing their professional football status following their relegation to France's third tier this week due to financial instability.
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The club has held its pro status since 1937, but will now close all its operations, including the academy and training facilities.
All players and staff are set to have their contracts terminated, including youth players, and in the event that they sign for another team, Bordeaux will not pocket any compensation.
Liverpool's owners, the Fenway Sports Group (FSG), were said to be interested in a takeover earlier this month, but they withdrew from negotiations last week "following extensive and constructive discussions with all stakeholders", according to Sports Star.
A statement posted by the French club on X read: "Following the confirmation of the DNCG's decision to relegate FC Girondins de Bordeaux to National 1, the Club filed for bankruptcy with the Bordeaux Commercial Court on Tuesday, in order to begin the necessary restructuring.
"Consequently, the Commercial Court will very soon pronounce the opening of collective proceedings which will automatically result in the loss of the Club's professional status.
"Therefore, given the very short deadlines before the start of the National 1 season, the Club had to give up requesting the maintenance of its professional status, otherwise it would have had to appear again before the DNCG with a budget that did not correspond to the future reality of the Club, which could have led to heavy additional sanctions.
"It is a difficult decision which anticipates an inevitable consequence of the ongoing restructuring process. Although the training center will close as a result, the Club will continue to promote youth teams.
"The effort of transparency vis-a-vis the French football authorities of what the real situation of the Club will be in the days and weeks to come must in particular make it possible to limit the sporting consequences of this situation, the Club having the objective of evolving in National 1 next season, to allow, as quickly as possible, the return of the Club, with cleaned-up finances and renewed ambition, at the highest level."
Bordeaux are six-time Ligue 1 champions, with their most recent title coming in 2008. The following season, in 2009/10, they reached the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League, although this would be their last qualification for the tournament.
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The side has also been the home of prominent stars of the past and present such as Zinedine Zidane and Joules Kounde of FC Barcelona.