"Tell the whole world: Olympique Lyon will not be relegated"

Seven-time Ligue 1 champions Lyon face relegation to Ligue 2 following the decision from the National Board of Control and Management of French football (DNCG) on Friday. The DNCG - responsible for monitoring the accounts of professional football clubs in France - have also be banned from the club from completing any signings in the upcoming transfer window due to a 500 million euros debt.

The same situation has already gone down in France. Girondins Bordeaux, who dodged relegation for several years, now find themselves in France's fourth-tier due to bankruptcy this summer. That said, the penalty for Lyon is not definitive, as ‘Les Gones’ have until the end of the season to sort out their finances and escape this nightmare. But they will have to do so with a transfer-ban imposed on them for the next transfer window, according to reports in France.

Club chairman and majority shareholder John Textor, who also owns significant shares in Premier League side Crystal Palace, spoke up on the situation, as he defiantly defended the French side. The American particularly questioned the DNCG's decision assess the finances of Lyon only, rather than all the teams in the Eagle Football Holdings -  a group of global football organisations, including Crystal Palace, Botafogo, RWD Molenbeek and FC Florid, alongside Olympique Lyon.

"At the DNCG, there are intelligent people but they work in a system and do not want to look at the global scale of what we do," he told reporters in a specially organised two-hour press conference on Saturday morning. "The DNCG has to digest a lot of figures in a very short time. We are a large organisation, and it is important to realise that all our clubs contribute. Our services collaborate, our financial services collaborate," he added.

"We will not be relegated, there is no chance," said the 59-year-old. "I know that our situation makes some sceptics. I prefer the Premier League system which punishes clubs differently. We have resources that go well beyond the club. Even if we fail on all our global initiatives, of €700 million, our owners will not let the group sink. There is no chance of being relegated."

'L'Equipe’ claimed last summer that Textor had put the entire squad up for sale after promising the body that he would raise as much money as possible in transfers. The American briefly addressed the implications for the players, as he claimed that they are in surplus at the club. "We have an excess of superb players," he began. "The coach has almost impossible decisions to make. I hate rumors about which players to sell, it depends on the opportunities, the certainty is the abundance of players."

Textor ended with a final note on Rayan Cherki, who's at the centre of transfer talk due to his elevated value of 55 million euros. "Cherki has a higher value now than he did in the summer. He should stay with us, but as it is always the case in football, the decision will be his to make. Right now we have 29 players in the first team, but ideally we would like to have between 23 or 24," he concluded.

 

November 16, 2024