Olympique Lyon, that was a football power in France. Now the club has been converted to a forced relegation – and owes it to its American investor.
Franz Beckenbauer, who died in 2024, was also known for his sometimes flippant sayings. In March 2001 he said in a legendary banquet speech to the assembled team of FC Bayern: “This is not football. This is the Uwe Seeler tradition team, old men’s football.”
The Munich team had just in the Champions League With 0: 3 singing and without a sound at Olympique Lyon lost, and the French had played on the wall, some of the Germans.
Seven titles in series – to this day record
“Ol” opened back then, the French Ligue 1 to mix up. In spring 2002, Lyon celebrated the first championship title in club history. It was the prelude to an era. Until 2008 the club entered seven titles in series. No other club had managed to do that in France. Grégory Coupet, Cris, Eric Abidal, Mahamadou Diarra, Juninho or Sonny Anderson were just a few of the stars of this “golden generation”.
Forced relegation is a bang
Now France’s former series champion has been sentenced to the forced down from the first French league because of his financial situation. The club has played there permanently since 1889. This was decided by the French football finance supervision DNCG. It is a bang and not even a year after the forced descent of Girondins Bordeaux The next setback for French football.
Protests against textor
“Ol” has been owned by the American John Textor since December 2022. About his Holding “Eagle Football” He also holds shares in other professional clubs – Molenbeek in Belgium and Botafogo in Brazil.
The city is in turmoil, the fans go against the owner Textor on the barricades. With “Textor out”-Spakaten that the ultra group “Les Bad Gones” Placed all over the city, the supporters of their anger took air. A banner was also hung on a bridge over a central street in Lyon: “Textor: The war is explained”. The American Textor will be “Never be one of us”wrote “Les Bad Gones”, the largest fan club in “Ol”.
The DNCG had already imposed the forced relegation at the end of the season in November last year on probation – including transfer lock. At that time, the debts had amounted to around 500 million euros.
Textor was no longer able to convince the inspectors at the hearing – despite a financial injection of 83 million euros and an agreement with the lobbles of the club in January. Until recently, Textor also stopped shares Crystal Palace In England, which he sold a day before the decision against Lyon. But that also didn’t use anything anymore.
Club goes into appeal
However, Lyon will appeal against the decision, as the club confirmed in a statement. It was incomprehensible “How an administrative decision can let such a large French association descend”. Sufficient capital and sporting success were able to demonstrate, wrote Olympique Lyon. Particularly bitter: Sporty, the team had qualified for the Europa League as the sixth.
It would remain for the forced descent for Lyon, would Stade Reims benefit from this. In the relegation, the club had lost against FC Metz.
In terms of sport, the Olympique had been going downhill since 2008. Although there were still three runner -up championships (2010, 2015, 2016), at the latest since one in Qatar for Paris Saint-Germain The return to the top was installed. To change that, Textor took a lot of money in hand – mind you – in a debt basis – and thus led “OL” to the economic ruin.
The great successes for the wedding failed to materialize on the international stage. Reaching the semi -finals 2009/10 and 2019/20 in the Champions League was the highest of feelings. Even after the 3-0 victory against Bayern 2001, it was not enough for the KO round.
Women’s team unaffected
What the club remains is the success of the women’s team. It is the series master at home and has already won the Champions League eight times. Women are not affected by the financial problems of men. This is because they are largely independent from the new season and nothing more than Olympique Lyon Feminin play, but under the name Ol Lyonnes.
The American entrepreneur Michelle Kang, who officially took over the majority of the shares in the women’s department in early 2024, had initiated this.
Similar fate like Bordeaux?
It is now to be hoped that “OL” does not suffer a fate similar to Girondin’s Bordeaux. The ex-master now plays in the fourth division, has given up his professional license and closed the youth center.
Other clubs have already opened the hunt for the best players from Lyon. In particular, the Belgian winger Malick Fofana (20) is courted by Chelsea. Interested parties are also available for Argentine international Thiago Almada (24), Georgia’s EM striker Georges Mikautadze (24) and the former Bayern professional Corentin Tolisso (30).