The seven-time French champion can breathe, but just a little. Olympique Lyonnais, interviewed this Thursday, December 11 for a mid-season review by the National Directorate of Management Control (DNCG), the financial policeman of French football, was subjected to a “supervision of your payroll”announced the Professional Football League (LFP). Arriving at the LFP headquarters at the start of the afternoon and leaving around 6 p.m. after almost two hours of hearing, the president of Lyon, Michele Kang, however managed to relax the restrictive measures imposed on her club in July, the DNCG having lifted the framework for transfer compensation.
Threatened last summer with demotion due to a catastrophic financial situation under the presidency of the American John Textor, the DNCG had to check whether the Rhone club has respected its savings promises since the arrival as president of Michele Kang on June 30. OL are no longer prohibited from recruiting this winter during the next transfer window but remain subject to a very strict framework set by the DNCG.
“We are very proud of the DNCG’s decision, which highlights the immense work we have accomplished in recent months. Thanks to everyone’s mobilization, OL is continuing its return and we look forward to seeing you by our side at the stadium, as well as in everything we do.”reacted Michele Kang in a press release.
Already owner of OL Lyonnes, the women’s section of the Rhone club, Michele Kang had avoided Lyon, which has not won a trophy since 2012, from a humiliating demotion to Ligue 2 and had allowed it to keep its place in the Europa League with the promise of significantly reducing its budget for the current season.
The DNCG also scrutinized the financial arrangements of Eagle Football Group, the parent company of Olympique Lyonnais, founded by John Textor and at the heart of the economic problems encountered by the club. In November, Eagle Football Group announced a net loss of 201.2 million euros for the 2024-2025 financial year ending June 30, or 175.3 million euros more than the previous season. On the balance sheet, the debt rises to 517.9 million euros. However, it announced a 7% increase in its revenue in the first quarter of the 2025-2026 financial year, thanks in particular to player transfers this summer, a point on which the Rhone leaders insisted before the DNCG this Thursday.
