OL are weighed down by a colossal debt, admits this Wednesday the executive president of the club, Santiago Cucci.
In sporting difficulties, OL are not in the best shape in terms of their finances either. This Wednesday on the club’s YouTube channel, executive president Santiago Cucci admitted that Les Gones were incurring a pharaonic debt, while being reassuring and confident about the prospects of the Rhone entity.
“ We have a debt of 300 million eurossays John Textor’s right-hand man. We are in the process of renovating it. ” How ? By finding new financial partners to best negotiate the rates of said debt. “ The project is very solid. We have a rating from an independent agency which rated us BBB+, a very, very good rating compared to the size of our activity. Normally, we are BB, here we are BBB+. There is the world leader in financial ratings which gives us one of the best marks in terms of financial solidity, which allows us in particular to reorganize the debt », insists Santiago Cucci, who says to himself “ shocked that people are trying to make people believe that John (Textor) has no money. He has the money, the project is solid! »
The Arena sacrificed
If he admits that a “ partner has an exit option » (the Iconic company, which invested 75 million euros in the OL takeover operation last winter, editor’s note), the Lyon executive ensures that ” this has no impact on the management of the club “. Two levers should be activated shortly to give Lyon more ease: “ We are in the process of selling our stake in OL Reign, it takes time. We are moving forward with the complete separation of the women’s section and a transfer to Michele Kang. All this will happen before the end of the year, it’s progressing on schedule », first promises Santiago Cucci.
And to add: “ We invested around 140 million euros in the Arena (the hall for concerts, shows and other events erected in Décines near the Groupama Stadium, editor’s note). My question is: Is it up to a football club to finance a performance hall? I love the culture and I’m the first person delighted that we have this. But the truth is there. Do I sell to recover the money and reinvest it for the benefit of the club and to solidify OL in the long term? There is nothing happening today. Like all goods put up for sale, we will see who wants to buy, who is strong enough to buy. »
