OL reach agreement with UEFA and will be able to play in the Europa League if they remain in Ligue 1

After a trying period, Olympique Lyonnais (OL) can finally look forward to some good news. The Rhône-Alpes club announced in a press release on Friday, June 27, that it had "signed an agreement with the Club Financial Control Body [CFCB] " of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). Three days after being administratively demoted to Ligue 2 by the National Directorate of Management Control (DNCG), the financial watchdog of French football, and two days after mourning Bernard Lacombe, whose funeral took place on Wednesday, OL ended the week on a hopeful note.

Lyon will indeed be able to play in the next Europa League, for which it qualified thanks to its 6th place in Ligue 1 in 2024-2025... on condition of remaining in the top flight. For several months, the CFCB had been examining the club's financial situation and had even excluded it from European competitions in December as a precautionary measure. It threatened to confirm this sanction at the end of the season, if the club owned by John Textor did not sign a "negotiated agreement" .

The agreement includes a heavy fine for OL, "around ten million euros," a source close to the club said, as well as "rationalization," meaning a framework for payroll and transfers, for "three or four years," according to a UEFA member. "OL thanks the UEFA representatives who supported it in this procedure," the club's statement said, and it will now be able to turn to the appeal it will present regarding the DNCG sanction.

OL, however, will only be able to appeal twenty-four hours after receiving the reasons for the court's decision. As of Friday afternoon, the club had still not received anything. Once Lyon has filed this appeal, it will have around ten days to prepare its updated file to present to the appeals committee of the federal DNCG, which is attached to the French Football Federation (FFF) and whose members are separate from the DNCG of the Professional Football League (LFP), before which the first hearing was inconclusive.

This agreement negotiated with UEFA is an asset for OL, which will be able to include Europa League revenue in its forecast budget for the 2025-2026 season – admittedly less significant than that of the Champions League, but vital in the absence of television rights revenue. Will this be enough to convince the DNCG to appeal? Lyon now knows what to expect: next season, the club will either be in Europe or relegated to Ligue 2.