John Textor issues mea culpa on the situation at Olympique Lyonnais and announces that he will "spend more time at Botafogo," his other club.

A mea culpa begins for John Textor, while the fate of Olympique Lyonnais (OL) remains uncertain. On the sidelines of the Club World Cup round of 16 lost by his club Botafogo against Palmeiras – also a member of the Brazilian league – on Saturday, June 28 (1-0, aet), the American businessman confirmed his distancing from OL, five days after the administrative relegation of the Rhône club to Ligue 2 by the National Directorate of Management Control (DNCG), the financial "policeman" of French football.

"I'm going to spend a lot more time thinking about Eagle [his holding company] on a global level, and I'm going to come back to Botafogo more often ," the Lyon president told Brazilian media Globo. "I have excellent partners in Eagle Football Group, shareholders who will mobilize to manage problems that, honestly, I didn't manage well in France. I'm looking forward to reconnecting with Brazil."

As nearly 2,000 supporters demonstrated in Lyon on Saturday to call for the departure of OL's American owner, brandishing placards and chanting against John Textor, the latter reaffirmed that Lyon "was going to come out of this just fine." The club must appeal its relegation, and visibly aware of having embodied - including in the eyes of the DNCG - Lyon's financial worries, the Texan promised to "put in place a solid team" in the OL management.

Owner of Lyon since December 2022, John Textor admitted that he “was not as good in politics in France” as “on the ground” , admitting that he had struggled to adapt to the “strange French system” – particularly football regulation.

"We're going to make a good showing" during the appeal, he pledged, recalling the sale of his shares in English club Crystal Palace – still pending approval by the English Premier League. " We're going to invest a significant amount; we just sold Crystal Palace. We're certainly not in financial difficulty, we've never had so much cash. But I've done things that disappointed the regulators, and we have to fix that," he repeated. On Friday, OL reached an agreement with the Union of European Football Associations, which had threatened to ban it from its competitions next season. If the DNCG overturns its relegation on appeal, the Rhône club will be able to compete in the Europa League – by paying a hefty fine.

As for John Textor, who could hand over to other members of his holding company, to now embody Olympique Lyonnais – without Eagle leaving the club, however – he intends to get closer to his Brazilian club. "That's how it is with the timeshare system ," he concluded. "You can't win all the matches of all the clubs on the same day." As if to confirm his words, Botafogo was eliminated from the Club World Cup on Saturday before his eyes.