The Nigerian trio of Moses Simon, Samuel Kalu and Josh Maja could all leave the Ligue 1 in the nearest possible future with French football on the brink of bankruptcy.
Jean-Marc Mickeler, the president of French football’s National Directorate of Management Control (DNCG) is pessimistic with regard to the future of the Ligue 1 and has not ruled out possible club bankruptcies.
The last Ligue 1 season ended with an operating loss of 1.4 billion euros from TV rights, transfers, tickets and sponsorships following losses of 1.2 billion euros in 2019/20.
In an interview with L’Equipe, Mickeler claims that “the worst is yet to come” as the teams’ total debt exceeds one million euros.
He also warned that if the Ligue 1’s 330m euro deal with Canal+ doesn’t arrive and there are more losses, “bankruptcies can’t be ruled out.”
Mickeler also stressed there are shareholders who have reached “the end of their ability to plug the economic holes” at some struggling French clubs.
Meanwhile, Kalu and Maja have been saved the ignominy of playing in the French Ligue 2 next season after Bordeaux appealed a decision to demote them to the French lower league for administrative breaches.
Bordeaux were saved by former Lille owner, Gerard Lopez. The top-flight club have now been imposed restrictions for wages and trans
By Oluyemi Ogunseyin