JAKARTA - Seven-time Ligue champion Olympique Lyonnais alias Lyon, which is owned by US businessman John Textor, has been relegated to the second division of French football (Ligue 2) due to club financial problems.
This was announced by the French Professional League (LFP) on Tuesday, June 24, 2025, local time.
Lyon confirmed that they would appeal the decision.
Textor and Mickael Gerlinger, Director of Football Lyon, were interviewed by the National Directorate of Management Control (DNCG), the French financial regulator in charge of overseeing all professional club financial accounts and health.
Pada November 2024, DNCG meregradasi Lyon sementara karena utang sebesar 175 juta euro (203,34 juta dolar AS) dan tidak ada rencana yang jelas dari klub tentang cara menguranginya. Larangan transfer juga diberlakukan pada bursa transfer Januari 2025.
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The club criticized the decision in a statement on Tuesday, June 24, 2025, and said it had worked closely with DNCG to meet all requests.
"Olympique Lyonnais paid attention to the unreasonable decision handed down by the DNCG tonight and confirmed it would immediately file an appeal."
"With the funds shown and the success of the sport that has brought us to European tournaments for two consecutive years, we really don't understand how administrative decisions can degrade such a great French club," the club said in a statement.
The decision comes one day after Premier League club Crystal Palace announced that Woody Johnson - owner of the New York Jets team - signed a legally binding contract to buy Textor shares. Textor sold 43 percent of his stake in Palace for 254 million US dollars.
"Thanks to the contribution of equity from our shareholders and Crystal Palace sales, our cash position has increased rapidly and we have more than sufficient resources for the 2025/2026 season," Lyon said in a statement.
In October 2024, Textor's Eagle Football Group revealed a debt of around US$574.85 million, raising concerns about Lyon's financial stability.
Textor's proposal to transfer funds from Botafogo, another club he owns in Brazil, to Lyon to cover debt was rejected.
However, Lyon officials believe that they will be able to answer all questions satisfactorily and give reasons why they should not be relegated to Ligue 2.
The 59-year-old Textors gave a positive assessment of their financial position before the decision was announced.
"You can see from the contribution of our shareholders. We have invested new capital, not only for DNCG, but also for our UEFA licensing process."
"Not to mention the good news about Crystal Palace's sales. Our liquidity situation has improved significantly," said Textor.
Earlier this month, they raised 42.5 million euros from Rayan Cherki's transfer to Manchester City.
However, the club has come under growing pressure.
Two years ago, DNCG decided to monitor club transfer activities, saying that its movement in the market would be limited under the framework of wage costs and transfer compensation.
Apart from that, Lyon won seven Ligue 1 titles from 2002-2008 and reached the semifinals of the Champions League in 2020.
Lyon narrowly lost to Manchester United in the 2024/2025 Europa League quarter-finals and lost a huge profit when they failed to qualify for next season's Champions League after finishing sixth in Ligue 1 2024/2025.
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