Clément Pédron, Media365, published on Saturday November 16, 2024 at 3:07 p.m.
The day after the announcement of the sanctions taken by the DNCG, including a ban on recruitment and a demotion as a precautionary measure, John Textor, the owner-president of OL held a press conference. During this, the American nuanced the picture and wanted to reassure the club's followers.
John Textor was expected this Saturday late morning at the Olympique Lyonnais training center. And he had things to say the day after a bad day for his club. Indeed, after its passage before the DNCG, the latter had a heavy hand on sanctions with a ban on recruitment, a control of the payroll in view of the next winter transfer window and above all, a demotion as a precautionary measure at the end of the season . All this, if OL's financial situation does not improve. The day after this emotional day, the leaders of the current 5th in Ligue 1 spoke. However, according to the Team, John Textor wanted to hold a press briefing before the announcement of the sentence, which was ultimately not possible.
During this press conference, the Missouri native wanted to reassure his audience and above all, expressed his incomprehension as to the financial policeman's way of doing things. The American considered that the body should have taken into account that OL was part of an international group, therefore with the possibility of making multiple transfers between clubs. According to him, no club is in economic danger. “ At the DNCG, there are intelligent people but they work in a system and do not want to look at what we are doing on a global scale, said the OL boss. The DNCG must digest a lot of figures in a very short time. We are a large organization, and it is important to realize that all of our clubs contribute. Our services collaborate, our financial services collaborate. »
Textor: “We will not be relegated”
Not annoyed, John Textor instead played the firmness card, arguing that OL has several financial levers to comply with the demands of the DNCG and cover its deficit of 100 million euros. Among them, the sale of its shares in Crystal Palace. The owner-president announced the “imminent” cessation of these, held by Eagle Football Holdings, which could alone, according to the Team, cover “more than what OL needs”. To hear him say, the Rhone club is therefore perfectly capable of avoiding sanctions, starting with relegation and he did not hesitate to say it. “We will not be relegated, there is no chance,” he insisted. I know there are skeptics about our situation. I prefer the Premier League system which punishes clubs otherwise. We have resources that go well beyond the club. Even if we fail on all our global initiatives, worth €700 million, our owners will not let the group go under. There is no chance of being relegated. »
John Textor took the opportunity to indicate that his club would not appeal the decision. He also added that after several contributions from Eagle, Eagle Football Holdings the parent company, and the money from the possible sale of Crystal Palace shares as well as the sale of players in January and the signing of a waiver, OL would have “more cash than necessary”. Finally, the OL boss warned that there were too many players in the Lyon squad and that six of them could leave in the transfer window. But that these would be sold at the “right price”.
