It is a decisive day for Olympique Lyonnais. This Wednesday, the club is auditioned by the DNCG, the financial gendarme of French football, in a climate of extreme tension. For several weeks, OL has been going through an area of strong turbulence, with misunderstood decisions, complex financial movements and parcel communication. In the background, a dreaded threat: possible administrative demotion in Ligue 2 confirmed after the DNCG's first decision in June. While the club tries to defend its viability, the concerns keep growing, and the hearing of this day could mark a major turning point in its immediate future.
But beyond the already known difficulties-colossal debt, dependence on the transfer market, uncertainty about financial contributions-it is the many gray areas that plunge OL into the unknown a little more. The complex structures of the Eagle Football group, the troubled relationships with Botafogo, or the lack of transparency on the use of the sums resulting from the sale of assets feed a persistent blur. So many unanswered questions that weaken the club's position in front of the DNCG and maintain discomfort among supporters as in observers. In this critical period, it is as much management as the clarity of the Lyon project which are now put to the test, specifies the newspaper Progress.
Unanswered questions
Eagle Football Holding Bidco Limited (EFH), recorded in London and parent company of Eagle Football Group – new name of OL – is today the most opaque piece of the Lyon Puzzle. Completely controlled by John Textor, EFH does not publish any financial data, unlike its listed French subsidiary, which prevents identifying the true depth of its resources and the precise structure of its shareholding. The only indications available come from the hexagonal stock market documentation: EFH had undertaken to provide up to 100 M € via a confidential introduction to the NYSE “early 2025” – a commitment obviously remained a dead letter in July 2025 – and to provide additional funding for EFG projects. In fact, the cash flow seems to park in London or in the United States, far from Lyon, strengthening the concern of the DNCG in the face of EFH central role, which also owns Botafogo and Molenbeek. At the same time, Textor's strategy blurs the boundaries between group clubs.
Lyon supporters are annoyed financial gateways with Botafogo: creation of “Ol Brazil” in June 2024 (succeeding OL Ltda) supposed to reimburse € 8.2 million at OL on July 1, 2025, rights acquired on three Brazilian players via a unclear assembly, and favorable favorable rumors of the Carioca club. At the same time, the refocusing promised on the “male team” resulted in transfers of major assets – 52.91 % Women's OL in Michele Kang (valued € 26.9 million), the sale of OL Reign for € 53.6 million, then that of LDLC Arena to a company dominated by the AULA family for € 54 million. Despite a cumulative product of at least € 134 million (more likely close to € 150 million), the financial debt climbed up to € 505 million to 30 € 2024 (compared to € 458 million a year earlier), officially because of a refinancing at 5.83 %… without EAGLE detail why this operation, supposed to lighten the load, weighs more heavier. All these gray areas nourish the anger of the supporters and the suspicion of regulators: does sales money and refinance really serve OL, or is the colmature of breaches elsewhere in the Eagle Empire?
Pub. the
– Maj the
