Invited to a conference in London on Thursday, the president of Olympique Lyonnais believes that Parisian ultra-domination is harmful to the competitiveness of the championship.
The overwhelming domination that Paris-SG, supported by Qatar, exercises over Ligue 1 does not help in the promotion of the competition, regretted Thursday the American owner of Olympique Lyonnais, John Textor. “Who will be interested in the French championship and watch it on TV if we know who will win?” he said in London, where he took part in a conference organized by the newspaper Financial Times sur le business du football (Financial Times Business of football Summit).
In France, Textor added, “Everyone is fighting for second place, it’s the same team that wins every year”. The other clubs are “in competition with a government, not a private company”. “I say to (PSG president) Nasser (al-Khelaïfi) in private and sometimes in public: ‘Is anyone having fun? Why do you like it?'” he continued.
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MEA culpa
Long relegated this season, Lyon moved up to 10th place after four consecutive victories. But the American businessman, owner of OL since December 2022, admitted to having “made the mistake of not making changes over the summer” in its workforce. “Making changes during the season is really difficult”, he said. OL, who qualified for the semi-finals of the Coupe de France on Tuesday, host Lens on Sunday for the 24th day of L1.
