Sochaux, ninth in the last Ligue 2 season, was administratively relegated to National by the National Management Control Department (DNCG), the body announced on Wednesday, a decision which the club said it wanted to appeal.
In a press release, the DNCG writes that it has pronounced the “demotion to National Championship 1” of the Sochaux club. “FC Sochaux-Montbéliard, while recognizing the legitimacy of this decision, will appeal against it in order to produce proof of coverage by the Nenking group (owner of the club, editor’s note) of its forecast deficit for the season at come,” reacted the club in a press release.
Nenking “must imminently release the funds provided for this purpose, and pay them to its subsidiary”, assured the club, which specifies that the Chinese conglomerate, specializing in real estate, is encountering “cash flow difficulties” due to the crisis in the real estate market in China. During the past season, Sochaux has long struggled for the rise in Ligue 1. The Doubs club was still third in Ligue 2 on the evening of the 30th day, but ended its season with eight defeats in a row to collapse in the 9th place, 17 points from the podium and 20 from second place, synonymous with a climb.
Historic club of French football, champion of France twice (1935, 1938), Sochaux was still playing in Ligue 1 ten years ago, before relegation at the end of the 2013/2014 season. The club’s last trophies are the Coupe de la Ligue won in 2004 and the Coupe de France in 2007.
