French giants Olympique Lyon will be relegated to Ligue 2 after the end of this season if they are unable to clear their massive debts.
Lyon have been struggling financially for several years and their debts have recently increased from €458m to €508m.
The Ligue 1 club is own by American businessman John Texter who also owns Botafogo in Brazil and has a minority stake in Crystal Palace in the English Premier League. While the transfer ban and monitoring are effective immediately, Lyon can avoid relegation if they’re able to improve their financial situation. To do that, Textor has options like selling his stake in Crystal Palace and/or turning a profit on valuable players in the Lyon and Botafogo system such as Ryan Cherki and Thiago Almada.
French football’s financial watchdog (DNCG) has therefore temporarily relegated Olympique Lyonnais, effective at the end of the season, if they fail to clear their debts.
In addition, the French team has also been ban from buying and selling players. If they are unable to pay off their debts by the end of the current season, they will be officially relegate from the Ligue 1.
Lyon’s current situation is similar to Bordeaux, who were relegate to the fourth division after the end of the 2023/24 season, while French media have analyzed that the only way to survive is to sell several key players to balance the finances.
For Olympique Lyonnais, currently ยูฟ่าเบท ranked 5th in the French Ligue 1. They are consider a giant of the French football industry, having peaked in the early 2000s by winning the Ligue 1 title 7 times.