Lyon could be kicked out of Europe

Olympique Lyonnais went through a serious rollercoaster of uncertainty from late 2024 to mid-2025. Because of poor financial records and breaches of financial sustainability rules, the French club was initially relegated to Ligue 2, but the appeal proved successful. Less than a year later, however, new problems have emerged for the seven-time French champions. According to the British newspaper The Daily Telegraph, Lyon are now facing possible exclusion from UEFA competitions next season because they have still not fulfilled the agreed conditions of a settlement reached with UEFA.

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With one round remaining in Ligue 1, Lyon sit fourth in the table. They have already secured at least a place in the UEFA Europa Conference League and are very close to qualifying for the UEFA Europa League. If they remain fourth, they will enter the Champions League qualifying playoffs, while a potential third-place finish — if they beat RC Lens in the final round and LOSC Lille slip up — would earn them direct qualification for the league phase of the UEFA Champions League.

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However, for the club to pass UEFA monitoring and receive a license, it must prove that it complied with previously agreed conditions. Ten months ago, UEFA’s Club Financial Control Body (CFCB) announced sanctions against Lyon, Chelsea F.C., Aston Villa F.C., and several other clubs for violating financial sustainability regulations. The CFCB established a scale of penalties if the clubs fail to meet certain conditions over the next four years. As far as Lyon are concerned, the French club was required to inject 60 million euros by June 15 of last year and convert that amount into shares — in other words, equity capital — by October 15, 2025. The club from Groupama Stadium failed to fulfill that measure. UEFA usually chooses exclusion from its competitions only as a last resort, but the possibility of that happening to Lyon remains real.

This week, the club revealed losses of 186 million euros for the second half of last year alone. The new management structure, led by American investor and club president Michele Kang together with Ares Management, claims that part of the losses stemmed from contracts former owner John Textor arranged within his multi-club ownership network, which also included Botafogo de Futebol e Regatas and R.W.D. Molenbeek. At Lyon, there is hope that a new cost-cutting program will convince UEFA to show leniency. But it is clear that the club faces a summer in which it may have to sell even its best players.