The cleaver fell, and its blade decided net in the history of one of the biggest French clubs. Olympique Lyonnais, an institution with the seven consecutive champion titles, is administratively demoted in Ligue 2 by the National Directorate of Management Control (DNCG). An earthquake, a shock wave that shakes the whole ecosystem of hexagonal football. If John Textor, the American owner of the club via his holding Eagle Football, immediately announced his intention to use all the remedies – appeal and then potentially referred to the French National Olympic and Sports Committee (CNOSF) – the reality of the figures, the previous ones and the calendar draws up a dark picture. The rescue mission, also ardently desired by thousands of supporters, is akin to a race against the watch with almost insurmountable obstacles. Five -point decryption of reasons which make the outcome of this (almost) inevitable (almost) showdown.
1. Vive red accounts: abyssal debt and colossal losses
The first wall in which OL comes in is that of its alarming financial situation. The latest figures communicated on March 31, 2025 are eloquent: a consolidated debt which exceeds 540 million euros (increasing 77 million in just six months), a cash divided by two and a net result accusing a loss of 117 million euros. Faced with this chasm, the DNCG had required an equity injection up to 175 million euros before June 30. A sum that the club was obviously unable to bring in time, at least not in the form of an effective transfer, a sine qua non condition for the financial gendarme of French football. Even if Lyon managed to mobilize these funds miraculously a posteriori For the call, another size challenge would arise: the validation of a balanced 2025-2026 budget. However, with a still substantial wage bill, drastically reduced income from Ligue 2 would make this accounting exercise extremely perilous. The myth of the club “Too big to go down”, That some waved by quoting the third budget of L1 (220-250 million €), collapses suddenly, recalling the painful bankruptcy of the Girondins de Bordeaux.
Why Textor's fight against the DNCG is (already) lost in advance
2. A shareholder in difficulty and under close surveillance
John Textor's ability to bail out the Lyon Caisses is at the heart of questions. His holding company, Eagle Football, already displayed a debt of $ 574.8 million in October 2024, and its other satellite clubs like Botafogo or Molenbeek also have pressing financial needs. The expected sale of Crystal Palace, estimated at around 222 million euros, is still not finalized. Without the rapid release of these funds, difficult for Textor to present solid and immediate guarantees to the DNCG. Added to this is the “investor-startup” vision of the American, which sometimes seems to collide with the culture of rigorous budget control advocated by French authorities. In addition, UEFA investigates the situation of multi -ownership involving Crystal Palace and Lyon. If OL were to stay in Ligue 2, European revenues, on which the club counted for its recovery plan, would disappear, annihilating the lever effect promised to the DNCG.
3. An unfavorable case law: the DNCG rarely gives way
The history of DNCG decisions hardly encourages optimism for OL. Since 2019, out of thirteen clubs administratively demoted for financial reasons, only two decisions have been fully informed on appeal. And never for a club with a debt level comparable to that of Lyon. The recent examples of Niort (confirmed demotion then exclusion in 2024) or from Bordeaux (demoted in National 1 in 2024, appeal rejected, leading to the bankruptcy) illustrate the firmness of the body. The files deemed “complex” often land in front of the CNOSF. However, it is crucial to recall that the CNOSF is not pronounced on the financial substance of the file; It offers conciliation, which is not binding. In the vast majority of cases (around 90%), the French Football Federation (FFF) follows the initial opinion of the DNCG.
Olympique Lyonnais, an inevitable financial and sports sinking?
4. A lightning calendar impossible to hold to have solid guarantees
Time is a formidable enemy for Olympique Lyonnais. The club has seven days to appeal to the DNCG decision. In practice, the appeal commission generally meets within ten to fifteen days. And the rule is strict: the funds required must be physically deposited in a blocked account Before the call hearing. A simple letter of intent or a promise of transfer is not enough. If OL should then seize the CNOSF, the final decision could be pushed back to the very beginning of August. However, the calendars of the professional championships and the validation of the workforce for the coming season must imperatively be completed at the end of July. The Professional Football League (LFP) and the broadcasters need a stable and final starting grid, which puts additional pressure for rapid resolution, often to the detriment of clubs in difficulty.
5.
The devastating impact of Ligue 2 on finances: a vicious circle for the call
Paradoxically, the very perspective of Ligue 2 – Verdict that OL tries to overthrow – creates a vicious financial circle which undermines its chances on appeal. If relegation was confirmed, the economic consequences would be so brutal that they make the presentation of a balanced and credible budget, even for the lower, extremely complex level. TV rights, an essential financial manna, would collapse: from 30 to 50 million euros per year in Ligue 1 for OL, they would be capped at 2 or 3 million in Ligue 2, plus a very limited variable part. Ticketing and hospital revenues would be dropped by at least 40%, according to impact studies. The Groupama Stadium, formerly a major asset, becomes a burden: a relegation clause in its financing requires that the reserve fund (DSRA) remains provisioned up to twelve months of debt service as long as relegation is a threat, generating an additional cost of immediate cash. Sportingly, the domino effect is inevitable: departures of major players (Nuamah, Fofana are already targeted) would be facilitated, and a recruitment ban could even be pronounced if the wage bill is not drastically reduced (from 40 to 50%). These disastrous projections weigh heavily on the credibility of the rescue plan that OL must present to the appeal commission to hope for a maintenance in Ligue 1.
In conclusion, if Olympique Lyonnais will legitimately fight to the end, by multiplying appeals and trying to mobilize funds in emergency, structural, financial, legal and calendar obstacles seem to draw an unfavorable outcome to avoid League 2. The prospect of this descent, with its devastating economic consequences, weakens its position more. The fall on the lower floor, as painful and unthinkable as it is for this French football giant, appears today as a scenario from which it will be extremely difficult to get out of. French football retains its breath, faced with what could be one of the greatest deflagrations in its recent history.
