A fan’s actions in Bordeaux’s June 2 home game against Rodez have ensured the team won’t be promoted to France’s Ligue 1 next season.
Rodez led 1-0 in the final Ligue 2 game of the season for both clubs on a goal by Lucas Buades in the 22nd minute. As the team celebrated its lead, a Bordeaux fan emerged from the stands and pushed Buades to the ground.
The referee officiating the match suspended the game after the push as Buades received treatment. He was later diagnosed with a concussion.
The game never resumed and the Ligue 2 disciplinary committee said Monday that Bordeaux would be given a loss for the game. That defeat assures that Metz will be promoted to Ligue 1 for the 2023-24 season while Bordeaux misses out on any chance of promotion.
Bordeaux entered the final weekend of the season needing to get a better result than Metz to score the second promotion spot to the top tier behind league champions Le Havre. Metz won its final game of the season 3-2 over Bastia and finished the season with 72 points and a goal differential of +28.
Bordeaux finishes the season with 69 points and a +24 goal differential. Had it beaten Rodez and achieved a better goal differential than Metz, it would have scored promotion.
In a statement, Bordeaux said the decision was “as incomprehensible as it is disproportionate, both in terms of the facts of the case and the case law.”
The team was also docked a point to start the 2023-24 Ligue 2 season and its south stand supporters’ section will be closed for at least the first two home matches of the season.
Bordeaux was relegated to Ligue 2 after the 2021-22 season after finishing last in Ligue 1. The team was placed in administration before that season and sold amid financial difficulties. It most recently won the Ligue 1 title in 2009.
