Jean-Michel Aulas invests in an amateur club

President of Olympique Lyonnais for a little over 35 years, Jean-Michel Aulas has done a lot for his club and French football in general. The 75-year-old businessman spoke about his new life in the columns of West France this Monday. “I rebuilt my life with my wife who is younger and who has three children, whom I consider dependent on me: two boys aged 10 and 14 and a girl aged 12… And they all play football.” He also revealed that he was involved in this amateur club.

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“I serve as an instigator, a guide, and I participate in the life of the club. I spend all my Saturday mornings there, whether with the volunteers at the refreshment bar, the educators or the president. I'm a crazy amateur football fan. It allows me to rediscover this football, a bit in the spirit of OL when I arrived in 1987, when professional football was much less developed. When you have served for 35 years as president of the region's flagship club, people recognize you. I am in direct contact with the educators, the president, the volunteers… L'Éveil de Lyon still has 1,200 members. And it allows me to know amateur football through operational aspects, which was not the case.” JMA is still close to the field despite his departure from OL.