Football: Annecy’s slalom to try to avoid the drop

Following the interruption of the match between FC Girondins de Bordeaux and Rodez Aveyron Football on 2 June 2023, the final day of the L2 BKT championship, due to the “intrusion of a [Bordeaux] supporter to deliberately physically harm a [Rodez] player who had just scored a goal“, the Disciplinary Committee of the Professional Football League (Ligue de Football Professionnel (LFP)) and the French National Olympics and Sports Committee (Comité National Olympique et Sportif Français (CNOSF)) attributed the victory to Rodez despite the controversy surrounding the seriousness of the action and the behaviour of the player concerned.

This victory, coupled with Annecy’s defeat on the final day of L2 as well, meant that Annecy were relegated to National 1.

Since then, the club has been struggling to stay in L2.

Annecy first sought the idea of a 21-team L2, on an exceptional basis. This request was rejected by the LFP’s board of directors, especially as the L2 will be reduced from 20 to 18 teams in 2024-2025.

Annecy has also asked the Minister for Sports and the Olympic and Paralympic Games in the name of fair play.

In an official press release dated 5 June 2023, Annecy subsequently welcomed the fact that the LFP Disciplinary Committee had not immediately validated the score of the match (the penalty was finally imposed on 12 June following the investigation) and announced that it was considering filing a complaint with the Public Prosecutor for criminal acts of sporting corruption and fraud.

In an official press release dated 28 June 2023, despite the rejection of its appeals, Annecy then announced: “We are in Ligue 2 BKT!

Since then, Sochaux was been relegated from L2 to National 1 by the Management Control National Directorate (Direction Nationale du Contrôle de Gestion, DNCG), with the 28 June decision upheld on appeal on 11 July 2023.

Annecy is now counting on Sochaux to stay in National 1, which could allow Annecy to be “pulled out” as the first relegated team and replace Sochaux in L2 next season to avoid the 19-club National 1.

This possibility is subject to the prior agreement of the LFP’s board of directors and the executive committee of the French Federation of Football, and to Sochaux not filing for bankruptcy, in which case it would be demoted to a lower league.

A real slalom to avoid going downhill by the club from Haute-Savoie!