French soccer heavyweights Olympique Lyonnais (Lyon) have had their administrative relegation to the second tier Ligue 2 overturned by the country’s DNCG financial monitoring body after appealing an earlier decision.
The DNCG said in June, when the initial ruling was handed down, that the club had failed to alleviate its debt situation – which came to €505.1 million ($585.7 million) last October.
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That led to the DNCG provisionally relegating Lyon last November unless the team improved its poor financial situation by this month.
Now it seems that a combination of player sales, early player payments from indebted parties such as Paris Saint-Germain, the sale of other parts of the Eagle Football Holdings business (the investment vehicle of majority owner (77%) John Textor that also owns the likes of Brazil’s Botafogo), and more has proven to the DNCG that Lyon’s financial situation has been adequately ameliorated.
In the past weeks, Eagle Football Group has initiated the sales of a raft of players from its clubs Lyon and Botafogo, reportedly achieving sales of over €141 million ($165 million) so far in 2025 (with likely more to come), sold its stake in Crystal Palace, and earlier in the season sold its associated women's side.
The DNCG overturning the relegation ruling means that Lyon, seven-time winners of France’s top-flight Ligue 1 between 2001 and 2008, will remain in the division, and will also be able to compete in the 2025-26 edition of the UEFA Europa League continental competition.
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By GlobalDataLyon qualified for the Europa League after finishing sixth in Ligue 1 in 2024-25, but agreed with UEFA that if the club’s relegation was upheld, it would withdraw from the 2025-26 Europa League, ostensibly due to the costs associated with competing in the tournament clashing with the severe drop in revenue that comes with relegation in France.
In a statement, Lyon said that they “welcome” the decision, adding that they are “grateful that the [DNCG] Appeal Commission recognises the ambition of the club’s new management to ensure a professionalised administration of its affairs going forward.”
After the initial ruling and the launch of Lyon’s appeal in June, the club reshuffled its executive management, with minority investor Michelle Kang, majority owner of the associated women’s team OL Lyonnes, stepping in as president as Textor resigned from the role.
Kang is said to have played an “active” role in the now successful appeal, with the club statement continuing: “The new management, aided by the commitment and dedication of our shareholders and lenders, is extremely grateful for all the support it has received from inside and outside the club, including from fans, staff, players, partners and elected officials.
“Today’s decision is the first step in restoring confidence in Olympique Lyonnais and we now return our focus to creating success on the pitch, ready for next season.”
Despite Lyon’s safety, the repercussions of this deal could reverberate across Europe. In France, it means that 16th-placed Reims, relegated after losing a playoff against second-tier Metz, will remain relegated, as they may have remained in the division had Lyon been sent down instead.
FC Strasbourg, seventh in the 2024-25 campaign, will also remain in the secondary UEFA Conference League rather than being upgraded to the secondary Europa League in Lyon’s place, while eighth-placed Lens will remain without European qualification.
Ligue 1 as a whole will benefit from the verdict, with the presence of Lyon, one of French soccer's highest-profile and best-supported sides, very necessary if the LFP governing body is to combat the further skid of its media rights values.
Perhaps the biggest repercussion that could come, however, is in the English Premier League, where Crystal Palace await a decision on their own appeal over whether they can remain in the Europa League in 2025-26, or if they will be demoted to the Conference League.
Textor, via Eagle Football Group, held a 43% stake in Palace, which won the FA Cup this year to gain entry into the Europa League, which ended up running them afoul of UEFA’s legislation on teams from the same ownership group competing against each other in European competition.
The American has since negotiated a £190 million ($255.3 million) sale agreement for his stake with NFL team owner and former US ambassador to the UK, Woody Johnson, who is now undergoing the league’s ownership test to verify his suitability for governance.
While that is typically a formality, and will reportedly be concluded in the coming days, its outcome could decide Palace’s fate.
Textor -having divested from both Palace, and his governance of Lyon (although he remains owner)- is positive for the London side, but the fact that UEFA has already banished two teams from European competition altogether already this summer due to multi-club activities (Drogheda United of Ireland and FC DAC Dunajska Streda of Slovakia), shows that not only are UEFA looking to clamp down on the practice, but also that they are not afraid to expel clubs (albeit ones from poorer leagues than the Premier League) from competition.
Furthermore, the fact that Textor failed to fully enact his Palace divestment by a deadline in May (which was set before Palace had even earned Europa League qualification) means that heavy doubts over Palace's future still linger.
The ruling on Palace’s fate was delayed last week in order to receive the results of Lyon’s case before ruling on this affair, and an outcome is now likely to come in the coming days.
