After Olympique Lyonnais' relegation to Ligue 2, supporters' anger is focused on John Textor

In the capital of Gaul, shock has given way to anger. But the day after the National Directorate of Management Control (DNCG), the financial watchdog of French football, announced Olympique Lyonnais' (OL) demotion to Ligue 2 , the anger of the Rhône supporters is directed at only one man: John Textor, the club's American owner since 2022.

On the night of Tuesday 24 to Wednesday 25 June, the Bad Gones, the main OL ultra group, displayed banners on the city walls and bridges, as well as in front of the Notre-Dame de Fourvière basilica, with the slogan "Textor out" . They claimed responsibility for these installations on their social networks on Wednesday morning.

In a statement published following the DNCG's decision, they had already called on the president of Eagle Football "to disappear from the Lyon landscape" . According to them, "this supporter of Botafogo" - a Brazilian club also in the fold of the American group - "has never been and will never be the right man for the job" .

The ultras also called on "the many creditors [of John Textor] to take back control and hand over the keys to Olympique Lyonnais to someone who will respect the institution" and "all those who love the club to come to its aid" . According to Agence France-Presse, another banner reading "Textor: War is declared" was also installed on a footbridge on the Lyon ring road.

John Textor appeared confident after his hearing before the French football financial watchdog on Tuesday afternoon, which made the confirmation of the Gones' administrative relegation to the second division, which came a few hours later, all the more surprising.

The club, which has been playing in Ligue 1 continuously since 1989, immediately announced that it would appeal "this incomprehensible decision." Regardless of the outcome of this case, the American owner no longer seems welcome in the stands of the Groupama Stadium.