The National Directorate of Management Control (DNCG) has not been kind to Olympique Lyonnais (OL), whose accounts are in the red. The financial policeman of French Football punished the Rhone club for its debt by forcing it, Friday, November 15, to control its payroll and ban recruitment during the winter transfer market.
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The DNCG, which had interviewed OL officials earlier in the afternoon, also decided to “conservative demotion at the end of the current sporting season” of the current 5e of Ligue 1, according to a press release from the Professional Football League (LFP).
The American John Textor, owner of the club, had nevertheless assured that he was not “at all worried about sustainability” of the company that oversees Olympique Lyonnais. “We will bring in several hundred million cash in the coming months”he assured, Friday, according to statements sent to Agence France-Presse.
“I am confident in our figures”
The businessman, who bought OL from Jean-Michel Aulas in 2023, assured that the LFP body had looked “the complete picture” of parent company Eagle Football Holdings, which also owns the clubs Botafogo in Brazil and Molenbeek in Belgium.
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Last week, its French branch published income statements which plunged supporters into doubt: despite a reduction in its net losses, Eagle Football Group's cash debt remains at 463.8 million euros.
To clear them, the company relies on cash inflows, particularly from Botafogo and Molenbeek, but the auditors believe they do not have sufficient information to judge the character ” reasonable “ of these hypotheses.
To reassure OL fans, Mr. Textor clarified that the club would not give up its best players, recalling that the objective of the season is to compete in the next Champions League.
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“I am confident in our figures, but I am never confident in how a regulatory body sees things”however, slipped the American, evoking “pressures” of his “enemies” dont “a big club linked to Qatar” ; understand Paris Saint-Germain.
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In July 2023, the DNCG had already taken measures to control payroll and transfer compensation. This situation had forced the Rhone club to undertake summer recruitment, carried out on the cheap and, in the end, unsuccessful.
