The 2024-2025 season of RC Lens B announced as a particularly difficult event, marked by a series of difficulties such as injuries, suspensions and player loans, compromising the stability of the staff. The winter arrival of the Bosnian player Nidal Celik, initially perceived as a reinforcement capable of consolidating the defense and instilling a new breath in a young team fighting for the maintenance, paradoxically turned into a major source of concern. The recruitment of Celik, although having the potential to improve the performance of the reserve, is now tainted by administrative complexity which could have disastrous consequences.

The problem is the registration date of Nidal Celik’s license, which does not meet the deadlines set by the French Football Federation for National 3. Although the international transfer market closed on 3 February 2025, the Federation, responsible for the management of National 3, stopped registration on 31 January. This divergence led to Celik’s qualifying as an out-of-period transferred player, a situation that could result in financial sanctions for RC Lens B, which has only three points ahead of the four-day relegation zone at the end of the season. The prospect of a potential loss of four to six points, equivalent to the number of matches played by Celik, poses a serious threat to the team’s ambitions.

This delicate situation recalls a regrettable precedent in 2020, when the presence of Issiaga Sylla had already resulted in a penalty of one point for the Lens reserve. The outcome of this administrative matter, whose decision will only be rendered in ten days, may well determine the fate of the season. This situation highlights a vulnerability of the RC Lens B, weakened by an administrative issue which, if confirmed, could annihilate efforts on the ground, and which may worsen the criticisms already addressed to the sports management, embodied by Pierre Dréossi and Diego Lopez.