Olympique Lyon is about the forced relegation and thus before the exclusion from the Europa League. The question of how the club continues has consequences for numerous other clubs.
Olympique Lyon is about the forced relegation and thus before the exclusion from the Europa League. The question of how the club continues has consequences for numerous clubs: from Crystal Palace to Racing Strasbourg, RC Lens and Nottingham Forest to Bröndby If.
It’s about “Multi -Club Ownership” – so if the same owner exercises control over several clubs. The process in Lyon could trigger a chain reaction across Europe. What the measure could mean for different clubs:
Olympique Lyon: For the club, the question first has the question of whether the financial inspectors of French football (DNCG) really enforce the forced relegation or whether Lyon’s objection could be successful. Fans in Lyon already protested against club owner John Textor and demanded his resignation. On Monday he resigned from his management functions in the club.
Protests by fans of Olympique Lyon against investor John Textor
One thing is now clear: If Lyon’s objection is rejected against the forced relegation, the club does not play in the Europa League – this was confirmed by the UEFA financial control chamber on Monday. Depending on how the objection is decided, a lot of follow -up questions arise for other clubs.
“Multi-Club Ownership”
“Multi-Club Ownership” is the possession or participation of an owner in several clubs. The possible advantages for the owners and risks for competition go far beyond suspicion of agreed games. Transfer within a network of clubs of multiple participation could be made at prices that meet the needs of investors – and not the actual market values. The time can also be selected. In this way, taxes can be avoided or financial fair play rules can be observed at least on paper. Clubs can be degraded into farm teams that serve the tip of their pyramid. The identity of your clubs can be lost for fans.
Racing Strasbourg and RC Lens: The two clubs have occupied the places behind Lyon in the final table of the Ligue1. If Lyon flies out of the league and thus also from the Europa League, Strasbourg could take Lyon’s place in the Europa League and lens from Strasbourg in the Conference League.
Incidentally, Strasbourg is itself part of a “multi-club ownership” structure, the investment group Blueco also controls Chelsea in addition to Strasbourg. Lens’ club owners also control the Italian third division team Calcio Padova. Both conditions should not mean any problems for the coming season.
The stadium of Racing Strasbourg
Crystal Palace: Lyon’s investor Textor also had more than 40 percent of the shares in the Premier League club Crystal Palace and also controlled Olympique Lyon as a majority owner. However, the rules of the UEFA state that if a natural or a legal person takes decisive control over more than one club in competition, these clubs must not start in the same competition. So there is the question of whether one of both clubs has to get out of the Europa League – priority has priority because the club as the sixth in the table in its league had the better table position than Palace, which was twelfth of the Premier League.
Football investor John Textor
The problem: In the past two seasons, UEFA allowed clubs several times in the same competitions that have or had the same owners. The statements were either a fundamental change in the circumstances or the parking of shares on trust accounts in order not to be able to determine several clubs at the same time. The clubs and investor Textor should have clarified these circumstances by March 1st. But they didn’t do it and missed the deadline. The fact that Textor sold its shares at Crystal Palace last week and now also resigned from his management functions at Lyon may not be enough to keep both clubs in the Europa League.
However, if Lyon is flying out of the Europa League, this could be the rescue for Crystal Palace.
Nottingham Forest: In contrast, Nottingham, which, like Olympiakos Piraeus was recently checked by the Greek investor Evangelos Marinakis, had clarified his conditions on time. In the meantime, there was the possibility that these two clubs qualify for the Champions League with Forest and Piraeus. Therefore, the clubs provided before the UEFA period on March 1st.
Evangelos Marinakis, club owner of Nottingham Forest
If the UEFA Crystal Palace allows in the Europa League, according to Nottingham Forest English media, legal steps consider because Forest would have moved into the financially more lucrative Europa League after the deadline missed by Palace. The argument: The timely adjustment by Palace was missed either way – no matter who is excluded or what shares are sold.
Bröndby IF: The traditional Danish club is qualified for the Conference League. Bröndby is controlled by the Global Football Holdings by David Blitzer, who also holds 45 percent shares in FC Augsburg. Here, however, important: speed camera is a minority owner of Crystal Palace. If the UEFA financial inspectors determine a decisive influence here, they would have to decide between Bröndby and Palace – and in this comparison, Bröndby has achieved the better table position in his national league. However, Crystal Palace had fundamentally qualified for the more important competition, which should initially have priority.
Bröndby IF fans with a poster against the club owners “Global Football Holdings” (GFH)
While the fate of all of these clubs has not yet been clarified and the question of Lyon and Palace was postponed by UEFA because of the open decision in France, the UEFA financial control chamber sorted out two other clubs:
- The clubs Drogheda United from Ireland and Silkeborg IF from Denmark with the British “Trivela Group” have also missed the same owner and the deadline for clarification on March 1st. As already confirmed by the International Sports Court CAS, Drogheda must not play in the Conference League.
- Dunajská Streda from Slovakia and Györi Eto FC from Hungary are both controlled by the Slovakian businessman Oszkár Világi. Dunajská Streda must therefore not play in the Conference League. Dunajska Streda is considered the club of the Hungarian minority. Világi maintains close relationships with Hungary Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who, like other high -ranking Hungarian politicians, visits games from Dunajská Streda in Slovakia.
Hungarian flags in fans of the Slovak club Dunajská Streda
The “Multi-Club Ownership” phenomenon is greater its years. The Danish initiative “Play the Game” recently produced a number of 236 clubs in Europe that are part of such networks. Most clubs from Germany are largely protected from a complete takeover by the 50+1 rule. However, clubs such as the 1. FC Kaiserslautern, FC Augsburg or Hertha BSC have become part of such structures through share sales. RB Leipzig is also the largest club in the Red Bull network.