Lyon’s owner John Textor warns of ‘lots of enemies’ including ‘big club in Qatar’ following DNCG meeting
On Friday morning, Olympique Lyonnais met with the DNCG, French football’s financial watchdog, for their midseason review. Leading up to the review, there had been some concerns that Lyon could face sanctions if the DNCG was left unconvinced by the club’s plans to balance the books by the end of the season.
L’Équipe and RMC Sport had floated the idea that the lightest of these sanctions could be the supervision of the club’s recruitment and payroll, while the threat of relegation to Ligue 2 would be the most severe course of action that the DNCG could take.
However, Lyon had been confident of their ability to convince the DNCG that they would be in a much better financial situation by the end of the season, and this was reflected in John Textor’s comments to the press following the review. The Lyon owner stated, “The meeting went well. I’m confident in our numbers.”
He did temper his expectations, “I can never be confident in the way a regulatory body looks at these things. I believe the DNCG is independent of some of these pressures you see, but we have a lot of enemies you know, within the league’s board [of directors], and a big club in Qatar.”
Lyon’s relationship with PSG remains frosty
A statement that implies the frosty relationship with Paris Saint-Germain, who are owned by Qatar Sports Investment, has not improved since the summer. In July, reports emerged that PSG had threatened Textor with legal action following a series of public statements where he directly or indirectly criticised the club.
