French league giants Olympique Lyon have been relegated to Ligue 2 (second division) due to financial issues.
The relegation was confirmed by the French league football governing body (LFP) in an official statement (via Get French Football News).
The decision to relegate Lyon was decided following a meeting with the National Directorate of Management Control (DNCG).
The DNCG is the organisation responsible for monitoring and overseeing the accounts of professional association football clubs in France.
Lyon were handed a provisional relegation during the last meeting with the French football financial body on the basis that if their financial situation didn’t improve, they would be relegated to the French second tier.
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Eagle Football Group, the consortium which owns Lyon, have pulled multiple financial levers to try and convince the DNCG that the financial situation had drastically improved, including the sale of John Textor’s stake in Crystal Palace and Lyon’s women’s team. However, this has not satisfied the requirements needed.
This development occurred despite Lyon’s owner, Textor, sounding positive about the potential outcome following the meeting.
He revealed to the press that the Rhône club’s financial situation had improved and that he was happy with the meeting.
Speaking to the press, Textor said: “You can see from the contributions of our shareholders, we have invested new capital, not only for the DNCG, but also for our UEFA licensing process.
“Not to mention the good news of the sale of Crystal Palace. Our liquidity situation has improved considerably.”
Lyon will now have to play their football in the second tier next season.
Lyon has won Ligue 1 seven times, which ranks sixth in French football history, and has the distinction of starting a national record-breaking streak of seven successive titles beginning with the 2001–02 season.
The club has also been crowned champions of Ligue 2 three times, won five French Cup titles, one French League Cup title and eight French Super Cup.
Though the club is a regular participant in the UEFA Champions League, they have only reached as far as the semi-finals, which was accomplished during the 2009–10 and 2019–20 seasons.
