The liquidation of AC Ajaccio has been declared by the commercial court

AC Ajaccio (ACA) was excluded from all national competitions in mid-August by the National Directorate of Management Control (DNCG), the financial watchdog of French football, due to its serious economic difficulties. Its liquidation "was declared on Wednesday [August 20] " , David Istria, president of the commercial court of the Corsica-du-Sud prefecture, told Agence France Presse (AFP) on Thursday.

The club's simplified joint-stock company (SAS) for sporting purposes filed a request for suspension of payments with the court on August 18, and a hearing lasting around thirty minutes took place on Wednesday morning. "The amount of the declared debt is around 13.5 million euros and there were 65 employees on the day of liquidation," a judicial source told AFP, adding that a legal representative had been appointed by the court.

Several reports from Tracfin, the financial intelligence unit of Bercy, have been made concerning the management of the ACA and an investigation is underway, another source close to the case told AFP.

Supporters united in the Collectivu Biancu è Rossu association have launched an online fundraiser to try to save the club and hopefully return to National 3 (fifth division). According to their official Facebook page, "€23,000" had been raised as of 11 a.m. Thursday.

AC Ajaccio was relegated from Ligue 2 to the National League due to serious financial difficulties, before being banned from all national competitions in mid-August "for the 2025-2026 season" by the DNCG. Founded in 1910, the South Corsican club won two French Ligue 2 championship titles, in 1967 and 2002. A Ligue 1 player between 2011 and 2014, it had a second stint, for one season, in the elite championship between 2022-2023.

That year, another team from the city, Gazélec Ajaccio, was placed in receivership and several of its directors or former directors were convicted of social fraud.

The other major club on the Isle of Beauty, SC Bastia, one of seven French teams to have played in a European final – losing in the UEFA Cup to the Dutch side PSV Eindhoven in 1978 – experienced the same ups and downs, having been placed in receivership eight years ago with €21 million in debt. Taken over in August 2017 by two local entrepreneurs, it has since recovered and now plays in Ligue 2.