The Professional Football League reacted Monday to the violent charge on RMC by John Textor against Vincent Labrune and the DNCG. The owner of Olympique Lyonnais denounced the mismanagement of French football by the president of the League and denounced the financial policeman's sanctions against his club.
After the very harsh words of John Textor against Vincent Labrune, this Monday during a long interview given to RMC in the show Rothen ignitesthe response from the LFP was particularly expected. And it didn't drag on even if the League refused to add fuel to the fire after the media outburst by the OL owner.
“The Professional Football League (LFP) expresses its surprise at the recent statements by John Textor, president of Olympique Lyonnais,” the body reacted to RMC Sport.
The LFP responds with “several misunderstandings” from Textor
After this initial stupor, the League denounced point by point several inconsistencies or errors by John Textor in his virulent remarks against Vincent Labrune or other French football bodies such as the DNCG.
“Basically, several misunderstandings clearly appear,” the LFP then continued in its response after the American businessman’s charge. “The DNCG is an independent institution, whose decisions and functioning are based on principles of autonomy and transparency.”
Before moving on to the other subjects discussed by the Rhone leader on RMC: “The meeting mentioned, in which John Textor took part, was a meeting of the Ligue 1 college chaired by Jean-Pierre Caillot and not a board of directors. The discussions and debates are led by Jean-Pierre Caillot and not by Vincent Labrune. In terms of form, the LFP is also surprised by the nature of the comments made, especially as Vincent Labrune and John Textor had a very cordial exchange this afternoon. They have also agreed to continue their discussions next Wednesday.
Textor sees Labrune as al-Khelaïfi’s “little doggy”
Supporter of a 100% Ligue 1 channel developed in particular by the LFP, John Textor obviously does not have excellent memories of the negotiations between club presidents during the summer during the endless series of TV rights. And without too much surprise, given the barbs addressed to the Qatari, Nasser al-Khelaïfi's double hat did not pass. A role as boss of PSG and the beIN Sports channel which does not seem to bother Vincent Labrune. To the great dismay of the American.
“I knew the situation, but I didn't really know the institutional protection enjoyed by a certain club and the power of a certain person over bodies like the ECA (the European Club Association) and the 'UEFA”, denounced John Textor this Monday on RMC. “In July, I was completely shocked because we talked about TV rights and the president of the League, who was to lead the debates, said almost nothing… It was Nasser who led the debates, while he should not even have been present, as the boss of a television channel directly involved in the debates.
Before continuing: “If there was a discordant voice, Nasser al-Khelaïfi 'barked' at this person, there was a lot of intimidation too. The president of the League sat, without saying anything like a little 'dog '. The League is quite crazy dominated by this man And that, I was not aware of it. The influence of PSG on the League, and even on the DNCG, is something that deserves to be. looked at closer.” A DNCG which, a few weeks later, sanctioned OL with a precautionary demotion to L2 and a ban on recruiting.
Jean-Guy Lebreton with Loïc Briley
