Objection announced
© Imago
The article was updated at 11 p.m. with a statement of the club (3rd paragraph)
The seven -time French champion Olympique Lyon has to lose weight from Ligue 1 to Ligue 2. That goes from one Judgment of the French financial supervision DNCG from Tuesday evening out. During the day, several clubs were heard on possible violations of the finance regulations. Among other things, no penalties were imposed against AS Monaco, FC Nantes and promoted FC Paris. The judgment against Les Gones goes back to an order from autumn 2024 (to the background).
The association can make an appeal within seven days and will also do this, as it later announced. If the objection remains without success, relegated Stade Reims could remain in the league. It is still open how things will go with the contracts of players such as Malick Fofana (20), Thiago Almada (24) or Georges Mikautadze (24).
Update 10:54 p.m.: Lyon confirmed in the late Tuesday evening to make use of the law of objection. The former French top club spoke of one “”incomprehensible decision“. In the end, one would have always worked closely with the DNCG and all demands were met. “Thanks to the capital contributions of our shareholders and the sale of Crystal Palace, our liquidity situation has improved significantly and we have more than sufficient funds for the 2025/26 season.” It cannot be explained how given the effort “So big French club” can be descended. “”We will go to the appeal to show that we are able to provide the necessary means in the form of cash flow to guarantee the survival of OL in the L1.“
The background is a mountain of debt of over 500 million euros, which had piled up by November last year. As a result, the DNCG had already made the judgment with the chance to submit certain guarantees by summer, to stabilize finances and to take 175 million euros by May. In winter, Maxence Caqueret (25, Como), Gift Orban (22, Hoffenheim), and Jeffinho (25, Botafogo) were sold for around 29 million euros and other players such as Saïd Benrahma (29, NEOM FC already moved the purchase option). The loan with Wilfried Zaha (32) had ended to save salary. Before the start of the club World Cup, Rayan Cherki (21) went to Manchester City for EUR 36.5 million. There was a capital increase and a severance payment plan for around a hundred employees. In addition, OL qualified with 6th place for the Europa League, which would have brought further income.
Olympique Lyon’s boss Textor was optimistic before judgment
Before the verdict was published, Lyon owner John Textor from the Eagle Football Group had spoken positively to reporters. “We are very satisfied with the procedures that the DNCG introduced this year. I think this is something new. They have changed certain things, they approved preliminary discussions 30 days ago. So we are very satisfied with this procedure. This year the DNCG is very convenient and aware of the situation. We have invested new capital, not only for the DNCG, but also for our UEFA licensing process.
Also because of the risk that Crystal Palace cannot take part in the Europa League due to the win of the FA Cup due to the win of the FA Cup, the US businessman wants to sell its 45 percent shares. Most recently, it was said that Woody Johnson, owner of the NFL team of the New York Jets, would pay 220 million euros to Textor. The Premier League has not yet approved the deal.
Textor continued on Tuesday: “Our liquidity situation has improved significantly. Nevertheless, it is an evaluation process. The DNCG has the right to check the entire dossier. I think I have learned enough from you and the procedures in France. But I would say that we have learned the procedure this year. You know our model. We are satisfied with a considerable amount of cash for the club.
A year ago, with Girondin’s Bordeaux, another former champion even had to go into the 4th league after bankruptcy. You can read the background here.