May 8, 2025
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Clarification of Recent Reports concerning Olympique Lyonnais and Eagle Football
To the supporters of Olympique Lyonnais,
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I understand that Olympique Lyonnais has many challenges in the greater economic environment of French football, and now European football, especially as we have worked to re-establish our club as a formidable European competitor. Today, as in recent days, yet another journalist decided to write a hypothetical piece that projects dire circumstances if certain governing-body expectations of financial sustainability are not met. The thesis of such articles is always the same...if OL doesn't stop losing money, or if Eagle's shareholders choose not to invest more money, then OL will be kicked out of the league, or OL will be kicked out of UEFA. The details may change, and the hypothetical scenarios will multiply, and become more alarming, with each unanswered news report - and most of these articles we simply choose not to answer. In fact, this week, I was asked by a leading news organization to respond to claims of a seemingly well written analysis of our lender relationship, written by an Instagram account of only 6,000 followers. As much as I appreciate the inquiry, we simply cannot be concerned with all of the noise.
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That said, when the same journalist, from a leading organization, writes at least three articles (DNCG, Fonseca, and UEFA) that reveal direct sourcing, predicting alarming scenarios of punishment and failure, with hypothetical scenarios that are made known to the journalist, before they are known to our club - or worse, in certain cases, the reports are based on half-truths that are not yet true, and may not ever happen - then we have to respond, to prevent misinformation that seems (not by the journalist, but by the anonymous source) to have an agenda of malice. Today's article in question can be found below...
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UEFA proposes a "negotiated agreement" to OL, which risks exclusion from the European Cups in case of refusal:
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This is yet another news article written about decisions being rendered before club presentations have even occurred. This article is built on half truths that are conveyed in an intentionally pejorative fashion. The truth is that we come into the UEFA competitions with a history of financial losses and a necessary path to sustainability that would be expected of any club entering the competitions. We have enjoyed our time with UEFA and have proposed financial projections and a path to sustainability that we believe has been well received. UEFA has reviewed our projections and they would typically propose a settlement agreement that would hold our club to performance standards that effectively shepherd us to sustainability. This is a typical process that transitions clubs from their pre-UEFA operating standards to a minimum standard of sustainability.
While this journalist was writing an article intending to paint an extremely negative picture, I was enjoying my day with the people at UEFA, walking an informed and experienced panel through both the common and the uncommon aspects of our business model. While the journalists would have you believe that we would not enjoy our time at UEFA, I can report the opposite experience. I am extremely satisfied with the friendly, professional and supportive treatment by members of the panel at UEFA. It is clear that UEFA has goals for our organization that are quite similar to our own. We adopted a club organization that was bloated in size and expense, one that had not consistently maintained itself as a UEFA-level competitor. We are challenged to return this club to its rightful status as a strong European competitor, while at the same time becoming more financially efficient.
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What the journalist has reported is essentially true of every organization that has invested heavily, in losses and in talent, to return itself to Europe. If we don't re-establish profitability, at the same time that we re-establish competitiveness, then we will be sanctioned - that's life as we know it in football - and why this journalist continues to bring dark scenarios from a source with an obviously malicious agenda, is another question altogether.
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In the end, this article cannot be trusted as a characterization of our clubs reality, because half truths are dangerous - the whole truth is so much more enlightening. So, please, in closing, consider some additional truth...
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My partners at Eagle Football have invested heavily in Olympique Lyonnais to rebuild our competitive posture and bring important trophies home to Lyon. Since December 2022, in addition to the cost of our acquisition of OL, we have invested more than 293 million Euros directly into your club. Of course, our investment has funded heavy operating losses that we inherited, but we have also invested heavily in our squad to be compete for titles in Europe at higher and higher levels. From an accounting standpoint, these losses and investments have consequences - today's investment into a player becomes tomorrow's 'amortization', reported as a financial loss. These losses, and these investments, have to be covered, just as would be true in any other business - and we will continue to do the same in Lyon.
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So what can you expect going forward? Well, our highly integrated global football business is starting to see strong moves toward profitability, through increasing revenues, declining player expenses, increasing squad value, and higher player transfer revenues, By the time we reach June 30, 2025, our football businesses, globally and in France, will be well positioned for profitability - the definition of sustainability. What we have left to do is pay for the pains of the past. We have to continue to bring in equity capital to reduce our acquisition/ player debt levels and strengthen our balance sheet for future ambition. We have presented this plan to UEFA, we expect them to hold us accountable to that plan (as they would do with any other club), and we look to achieve all of our objectives in rebuilding your club - financially and competitively.
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​UPDATE: We have taken note of the recent comments made by Mr. Jean-Michel Aulas. Out of respect for his legacy with Olympique Lyonnais, we do not wish to engage in controversy. However, it is important to share a few factual elements to provide a clearer understanding of the club’s situation at the time of the takeover. OL is part of a publicly listed company and our financials are published and highly transparent. Contrary to Mr. Aulas's comments, our inherited debt is relatively unchanged and is no longer subject to near-term repayment terms - and our assets have not declined, but have rather grown significantly.
At that time of our takeover, over €300 million in debt was due for repayment in the short to medium term, including state-guaranteed loans (PGE), stadium-related debt, and a revolving credit facility. The club was also facing an urgent need for cash recapitalization of €86 million, money which Eagle provided. In fact, as we would later learn, the DNCG issued a warning, at the time of our change-of-control, that OL was significantly undercapitalized and that huge sums would be required to be invested to avoid DNCG sanctions. As stated above, Eagle and its shareholders have invested more than €293 million since the acquisition, and we will continue to invest to further strengthen the club.
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As reflected in the club’s financial statements, total assets increased from €686 million as of December 31, 2022, to €826 million as of December 31, 2024. This growth illustrates the significant investments made, particularly to rebuild a competitive first team.
Over the same 2 year period, the net debt excluding player trading and shareholder loan increased from €335 million in Dec 2022 to €346 million in Dec 2024
Eagle Football’s commitment is clear: to ensure the club’s financial sustainability while preparing for its return to the highest level. This requires discipline, time, and trust. To all supporters: we carry this responsibility every single day.
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