The Lyon club is facing major financial difficulties and could face sanctions.
Big concern for Olympique Lyonnais. The club will have to undergo a major oral hearing before the DNCG this Friday while the accounts of John Textor’s club are still in the red. An alarming situation for the Les Gones club after the publication of the figures Eagle Football Group, formerly OL Groupe, which published its accounts for the 2023-2024 season. In detail, as of June 30, i.e. at the end of the 2023-2024 season, Eagle Football Group recorded a deficit of 25.7 million euros and yet, the payroll has increased… The group has expressed its wish to “put in place a plan to rationalize its operating costs” and the opening of discussions for a possible “voluntary departure plan”.
“It’s not a surprise. The figures are stubborn, it’s necessarily worrying. The situation was already worrying even before John Textor took over the club. He put a lot of money into the buyout and more into the athlete. It created a negative spiral. We entered a vicious circle,” explained Vincent Chaudel, director of the Sport Business Observatory, on RMC Sport.
A Bordeaux-style destiny?
For the moment, nothing is certain and Lyon will have to give guarantees to the DNCG. According to information, “contributions of 75 million euros by the end of December 2024 in the form of equity and/or proceeds from the sale of players held by clubs in the Eagle Football Holdings group” are announced. There will also be “the contribution of a maximum amount of 100 million euros at the start of 2025 from Eagle Football Holdings” and the “completion of player transfers during the January 2025 transfer window”. A Bordeaux-style destiny could still be avoided thanks to the assets around the club and in particular the Groupama Stadium. Lyon still risks sanctions, the “lightest” concerns the supervision of recruitment and payroll and can go as far as relegation as a precautionary measure, if the money is not found by the end seasonal.