Football: American Michele Kang appointed OL president after John Textor's resignation

"Michele (Kang) is the ideal choice to lead OL in the next phase and I have full confidence in her and in OL, which will emerge stronger under her leadership," said the resigning president in the press release. He still remains the owner of the club.

Michele Kang, 66, was already president and owner of OL Lyonnes, the club's women's team. With this reshuffle, she has also been appointed CEO of Eagle Football Group, which oversees all of the club's activities, and has been a member of its board of directors since September 2023.

She "will play an active role in supporting the executive management of Olympique Lyonnais, in particular by leading the club's appeal procedure with the National Directorate of Management Control (DNCG)" , underlines OL, which hopes, thanks to this change of management, to influence the position of the financial watchdog of French football.

Originally from South Korea, Michele Kang is described as a formidable businesswoman, investor, and philanthropist. She became interested in football in 2019 after the United States won the World Cup in France. According to Forbes magazine, her net worth is estimated at $1.2 billion in 2025. In addition to OL Lyonnes, she also owns the American club Washington Spirit, where the players nickname her the "Boss Queen," and the English team London City Lionesses, recently promoted to the Premier League.

Another notable change is that German Michael Gerlinger, sporting director of Eagle Football Holding, the parent company of Eagle Football Group (OL), has been appointed as the club's general director, replacing Laurent Prud'homme, who was dismissed from his post at the end of April and has not been replaced since.

"We are entering a critical period for OL. […] I look forward to working closely with Michael [Gerlinger], the OL management team and the board of directors to support the club throughout the proceedings before the DNCG and beyond," said Michele Kang in the statement. After twenty years in the Bayern Munich organization, Michael Gerlinger, 52, is "a highly respected figure in European football administration, in the areas of governance, regulatory affairs and sports operations," the club statement said.

Football and business

This upheaval comes at a time when John Textor declared on Saturday, June 28, in a Brazilian media outlet that he was stepping back from his position after Olympique Lyonnais failed to pass the DNCG, to focus on Botafogo, a Brazilian club that he also owns.

For its part, OL, which immediately announced its intention to appeal after the DNCG's decision, has still not received notification of the body's grievances as of Monday morning, an essential condition for officially filing its appeal.