After the publication of the accounts still in the red, OL must meet with the DNCG in the coming days. For Vincent Chaudel, Director of the Sport Business Observatory, the situation is “worrying”.
OL supporters will have to grit their teeth. If the euphoria is still present after the victory in the derby against Saint-Étienne on Sunday (1-0), the stress can quickly return, because an important meeting awaits the Lyon leaders in the coming days: the passage in front of the DNCG, this Friday in Paris according to L'Equipe. Given the latest figures released by Eagle Football Group, the situation remains worrying.
“It's not a surprise. The figures are stubborn, it's necessarily worrying. The situation was already worrying even before John Textor took over the club. He put a lot of money into the buyout and more into the athlete. It created a negative spiral. We entered a vicious circle”, reports Vincent Chaudel, director of the Sport Business Observatory, guest of After Foot this Tuesday on RMC.
At the end of the 2023-2024 season, the group led by John Textor recorded a deficit of 25.7 million euros, to which was added nearly 500 million euros in debt. For their meeting before the financial policeman of French football, the Lyon leaders – Textor and Prud'homme on pole – will have to provide a certain number of guarantees concerning a sum exceeding 100 million euros.
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OL, the new Bordeaux?
To do this, Eagle Football Group will have to sell players, whether to Botafogo, Molenbeek or OL, but also sell its shares in Crystal Palace (45% of the capital). In the press release announcing its financial results, Eagle Group announced “contributions of 75 million euros by the end of December 2024 in the form of equity and/or proceeds from the sale of players held by clubs in the group. “Eagle Football Holdings”, “the contribution of a maximum amount of 100 million euros at the start of 2025 from Eagle Football Holdings” and the “completion of transfers of players during the January 2025 transfer window. A sufficient commitment to avoid a fate similar to that of the Girondins de Bordeaux?
“Bordeaux, investigation into a descent into hell” / With Nicolas Paolorsi and Vincent Romain, co-authors of the book – 09/10
“We cannot take the example of Bordeaux because it is a situation where there are more active people,” recalls Vincent Chaudel. “The buyout was not only made with funds from John Textor, there were creditors. When you start owing them money, it puts more and more pressure. The fact of having assets (the Groupama Stadium for OL), which Bordeaux did not have enough, can save Lyon 500 million euros in debt, it's colossal Let's remember that Barça, two years ago. , it was 1.3 billion in debt The difference between what Barça and OL did is that they sold part of their assets, without selling everything. If we take the case of OL, they sold themselves. separated from the women's section of the LDLC Arena.”
The DNCG “wants to see concrete things”
If the sale of players with high market value (Cherki, Fofana) may seem the easiest solution, there is no guarantee that the envelope will be sufficiently substantial. Especially since the climate hanging over the club can create tension in the locker room, and therefore have an impact on the athlete according to Vincent Chaudel. “When everyone knows that you have to sell, that’s rarely where you make the best sales. Those that you are going to sell are those that have a market value, and therefore a sporting value,” adds the director of the Observatory. of Sports Business.
While Vincent Chaudel emphasizes that the DNCG “wants to see something concrete” during the hearing, OL are not immune from possible sanctions. The “lightest” concerns the supervision of recruitment and payroll and can go as far as relegation as a precautionary measure, if the money is not found by the end of the season.
