Lyon Under Close DNCG Scrutiny Over Financial Irregularities In Budget, Could Face Relegation To Ligue 2
ZAGREB, CROATIA - MARCH 27, 2017. - French football club Olympique Lyonnais emblem on football jersey.
Written by Olaleye Oluwadamilola
Olympique Lyonnais are now under close scrutiny of Direction Nationale du Contrôle de Gestion (DNCG), French’s football financial watchdog following disparities in their financial budget which was submitted by John Textor, the club’s president.
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Lyon may not be able to fully participate in the transfer markets unless their financial irregularities is sorted in time and as such, might affect their Ligue 1 participation in the upcoming 2023/2024 campaign as they await DNCG final judgement.
Direction Nationale du Contrôle de Gestion have decided to monitor the club’s transfer activity and wage bill for the 2023-2024 season due to financial irregularities in the budget presented John Textor.
Eagle Football, the holding company headed up by John Textor, which manages a number of football club investments, including Botafogo, Crystal Palace and Molenbeek, alongside Ligue 1 team Lyon, appears to be running low in cash.
This has emerged following French football’s financial watchdog, the DNCG, demanding that John Textor finds an additional €60m to inject into OL before 30th June, or else face sanctions from the governing body.
L’Équipe report that Lyon are considering lodging an appeal with the French Football Federation over the matter so as to allow them to fully participate in the transfer market and also know the next direction for the club before the season begins.
Currently, the budget for next season is considered to be unbalanced by the DNCG. For clubs in Ligue 1 and Ligue 2, the practice required is for them to present a balanced budget for the forthcoming season before end of June, or else face sanctions which could be as light as a fine or as heavy as relegation from the division that they currently sit in.
The €60m required of Textor could be funded in one of two ways: either via player sales, or through the injection of additional cash although, latter feels more realistic to L’Équipe, who note that 2 weeks is not a particularly long amount of time to achieve such a quantity of player sales and that Lyon’s new owners do not wish to decimate manager Laurent Blanc’s first team squad this summer.
Textor tried to give strong financial guarantees to the DNCG with a last-gasp attempt to move Eagle Football’s share capital in Crystal Palace, Molenbeek and Botafogo into the Lyon holding company, OL Groupe, to boost its asset base by €300m.
However, it was not enough to convince the DNCG that Lyon are in good financial health. In short, the DNCG will be able to block transfer incomings this season and monitor the club’s wage bill inflation.
Meanwhile…
FC Nantes attacking midfielder, Marcus Coco will officially extend his stay with Les Canaris, the club has announced.
Coco was out of contract on June 30th, but talks of a renewal quickly gathered pace. The former Guingamp player is now tied to FC Nantes with a contract set to expire in 2025.
The 27 year old new deal includes an option to trigger a further year with the Loire-Atlantique side.
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Stade Rennais has officially announced the conclusion of loan spells for three key players in their squad.
Karl Toko-Ekambi who was on loan from Olympique Lyonnais, Djed Spence and Joe Rodon both loaned from Tottenham, have all seen their loan contracts come to an end.
The club thanked them for their time via their social channels as the trio return to their respective parent clubs.
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