Threatened with demotion to Ligue 2, Olympique Lyonnais will have to reassure the DNCG in the coming months. Everything will depend on the revenue recorded at the level of John Textor's holding company.
Before the 12th day of Ligue 1 and the trip to Reims on Saturday evening, coach Pierre Sage and his men manage to stay focused on the pitch. The situation at Olympique Lyonnais, however, has cause for concern. Following its passage before the DNCG, the Rhone club was demoted to Ligue 2 as a precautionary measure. The financial watchdog did not validate the plan presented by John Textor to fill the deficit. It must be said that the American owner, as explained by specialist Mathieu Carrée, is betting everything on the future revenues of his holding company.
Why OL worries the DNCG
« There are figures which were published by the management of Olympique Lyonnais a few days ago and which indicate that, if we look at the figures as of June 30, 2024, there are 165 million euros of debt which will be to be paid by June 30, 2025. That is certainrecalled the auditor on RMC. What we can see in the figures that were announced for 2023-2024 is that the activity of Olympique Lyonnais, its Football operations, made it possible to generate 7 million euros in cash. The problem is above all there, it is that today if we take Olympique Lyonnais alone, it does not have the means to repay its debt in the short term. »
« The DNCG will verify that the club is able to repay its debts in the coming year. And in this case, that’s not the case.warned the accountant. (…) In this type of situation, when the operating company is not able to repay its debts, we look at whether the shareholder, the parent company, will be able to financially support the subsidiary. In this case, all the solutions that were proposed by John Textor to the DNCG are based solely on the support of Eagle Football Group: the entry into the stock market, the proceeds from the sale of players from other clubs in the Galaxy Eagle, or 40 million euros from the proceeds from the sale of Crystal Palace. » Arguments that are impossible for the DNCG to take into account.
