Lyon football club has been relegated to the second division of France after club president John Textor and sporting director Michael Gerlinger failed to convince the financial regulator to prevent the administrative relegation, announced on November 15, at a hearing before the National Directorate for Management Control (DNCG) today.
Lyon's leaders did not provide guarantees for the settlement of the 175 million euro debt, which is in accordance with Article 11 of the DNCG regulations and led to the confirmation of the sanction. The club has the right to appeal.
Lyon were temporarily relegated to the second division last winter due to a lack of financial guarantees, and were facing eventual relegation. Four days before the deadline, Tekstor told L'Equipe that "everything is fine financially" after various investments in recent weeks.
Tekstor himself stated to reporters yesterday, immediately after the hearing, that he was "satisfied" with the conversation with the DNCG, but the situation is obviously far more complex.
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