{"id":67643,"date":"2025-06-24T23:14:19","date_gmt":"2025-06-24T22:14:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/?p=67643"},"modified":"2025-06-27T11:51:03","modified_gmt":"2025-06-27T10:51:03","slug":"lyon-facing-relegation-despite-sixth-place-ligue-1-finish","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/lyon-facing-relegation-despite-sixth-place-ligue-1-finish\/","title":{"rendered":"Lyon Facing Relegation Despite Sixth-Place Finish in Ligue 1 &#8211; What Really Happened?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In a stunning twist that has shocked everyone, Olympique Lyonnais have been administratively relegated to Ligue 2 ahead of the 2025-26 season. Lyon finished sixth in the Ligue 1 2024-25 season. Due to that, they had also qualified for the upcoming season&rsquo;s UEFA Europa League.<\/p><p>However, reportedly, they will now be playing second-tier football. It doesn&rsquo;t seem all is lost though as Lyon have said that they will appeal the matter immediately. The relegation was confirmed by the Direction Nationale du Contr&ocirc;le de Gestion (DNCG) &ndash; the watchdog responsible for monitoring the financial health of French football clubs.&nbsp;<\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Olympique Lyonnais acknowledges the incomprehensible decision rendered by the DNCG tonight and confirms that it will immediately file an appeal. <br> <br>In recent months, we have worked closely with the DNCG, satisfying all of its requests with cash equity investments exceeding the&hellip;<\/p>&mdash; Olympique Lyonnais &#127468;&#127463;&#127482;&#127480; (@OL_English) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/OL_English\/status\/1937618721193021875?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" class=\"trk-cta-link\" data-cta-trk='{\"ctaType\":\"Link\",\"ctaSubType\":\"main\"}'>June 24, 2025<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure><p>They came to the decision following a detailed review of Lyon&rsquo;s accounts. Lyon were previously handed a provisional relegation in November 2024. They also received a transfer ban in January. Even so, the club failed to meet the financial guarantees required to maintain their top-flight status.<\/p><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Failed Recovery Measures and High-Stakes Ownership Changes<\/h2><p>John Textor&rsquo;s Eagle Football Group, which holds a 77% stake in Lyon, made multiple efforts to stabilise the club&rsquo;s finances. These included the sale of OL&rsquo;s women&rsquo;s team to U.S. investor Michelle Kang. Textor also had a 43%&nbsp; stake in Crystal Palace.<\/p><p><strong>Also Read: <a href=\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/teams-qualified-for-2025-fifa-club-world-cup-round-of-16\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" class=\"trk-cta-link\" data-cta-trk='{\"ctaType\":\"Link\",\"ctaSubType\":\"main\"}'>Which Clubs Have Qualified for the 2025 Club World Cup Round of 16 So Far?<\/a><\/strong><\/p><p>In a high-profile agreement he offloaded Eagle Football&rsquo;s stakes in the Premier League club to <a href=\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/new-york-jets-owner-woody-johnson-to-acquire-premier-league-club-crystal-palace\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" class=\"trk-cta-link\" data-cta-trk='{\"ctaType\":\"Link\",\"ctaSubType\":\"main\"}'>New York Jets owner Woody Johnson<\/a>. However, these actions weren&rsquo;t enough to sway the DNCG. Textor had previously dismissed concerns, stating in November that there was &ldquo;no chance&rdquo; of relegation.&nbsp;<\/p><p>Now it seems that even the &pound;34 million sale of star forward Rayan Cherki to Manchester City and interest in selling other assets failed to convince French authorities. According to L&rsquo;Equipe, the DNCG made its decision after Lyon could not provide the financial guarantees it demanded. Thus, sealing the club&rsquo;s descent to Ligue 2.<\/p><p><strong>Also Read: <a href=\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/inter-miami-vs-psg-a-star-round-of-16-fifa-club-world-cup-2025\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" class=\"trk-cta-link\" data-cta-trk='{\"ctaType\":\"Link\",\"ctaSubType\":\"main\"}'>Inter Miami vs PSG: A Star-Studded Round of 16 Clash at the FIFA Club World Cup 2025<\/a><\/strong><\/p><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Next Steps and Possible Appeal for Lyon<\/h2><p>Lyon are now preparing to formally appeal the ruling. A successful appeal is not without precedent. clubs like Nancy have overturned similar decisions in the past. Still, with the official season concluding on June 30 and the DNCG&rsquo;s stance firm, Lyon&rsquo;s chances appear slim.<\/p><p>Lyon&rsquo;s statement read &ldquo;Olympique Lyonnais acknowledges the incomprehensible decision handed down by the DNCG this evening and confirms that it will immediately.&rdquo; The relegation marks a dramatic low point for a club that once dominated Ligue 1, winning seven consecutive titles from 2001 to 2008.<\/p>\n<div class=\"mm-layout mm-layout-type-post mm-layout-slot4\">\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ligue 1 Giants Lyon, Who Secured European Qualification Last Season, Now Face Life in the French Second Division.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_mux_skip_reasons":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[4038],"tags":[4053,4512,8071,6191,8070,4012,1182],"class_list":["post-67643","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-soccer","tag-crystal-palace","tag-europa-league","tag-john-textor","tag-ligue-1","tag-ligue-2","tag-lyon","tag-premier-league"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Lyon Facing Relegation Despite Sixth-Place Finish in Ligue 1 - What Really Happened? - The Playoffs<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Lyon were set for Europa League football, but now they&#039;re in Ligue 2. Find out what really led to their shock relegation from Ligue 1.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/lyon-facing-relegation-despite-sixth-place-ligue-1-finish\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Lyon Facing Relegation Despite Sixth-Place Finish in Ligue 1 - What Really Happened? - The Playoffs\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Lyon were set for Europa League football, but now they&#039;re in Ligue 2. 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