Lyon relegated to Ligue 2 due to financial breaches; American owner John Textor reportedly expected to appeal

Lyon was relegated to Ligue 2 after a decision by the National Directorate of Management Control (DNCG), the financial watchdog of French football, seven months after they were provisionally relegated for financial mismanagement.

The club has the opportunity to appeal against the decision and is expected to do this the following week, so that they buy more time to meet the financial requirements of the DNCG.

The decision came on Tuesday after a hearing for the DNCG, with club owner and President John Textor for the procedure.

In November, Lyon was provisionally relegated to the Second Division for their fault of millions of dollars, which, according to some estimates, is as low as $ 200 million and as high as $ 530 million. The decision last fall of the DNCG set the pressure on Textor to improve Lyon’s financial status before the organization had to make a final statement, with various money movements in recent weeks somewhat improve.

Since then, several players have left Lyon when the club aims to fill in serious transfer costs, in particular with the move from Rayan Cherki to Manchester City earlier this month in a deal that is said to be worth $ 41.76 million worth the Cash-Strapped Club. Textor’s Move to Sell England’s Crystal Palace, another club under the umbrella of the Eagle Football Holdings, can also play a role – – It is said that he has agreed to sell 44.9% interest in Palace to Woody JohnsonThe owner of the New York Jets of the NFL, for a fee of around $ 258 million. However, it is unlikely that he received the money, but what may have played a role in the DNCG statement.

“You can see this thanks to the contributions of our shareholders, we have invested new capital, not only for the DNCG, but also for our UEFA License process. Not to mention the good news of the sale of Crystal Palace. Our liquidity situation has been considerably improved.” Textor told members of the media before the statement arrived on Tuesday, Per RMC. “Everyone usually knows how much we have sold Crystal Palace. This money is invested in Eagle. Of course we would like to use it to pay off our debts. We would also like to make it part of it for the company. UEFA has asked us to invest a sum of money in the company to ensure and restrain our sustainability.

Despite the financial ruin, Lyon finished sixth in Ligue 1 during the 2024-25 campaign and were planned to play in the competition phase of the UEFA Europa League season.