Ligue 1: John Textor fractures his elbow while… skateboarding

The video posted on Saturday showed him to his advantage. There we saw John Textor, alongside Brazilian skateboarding prodigy, Pedro Vita (14 years old), very comfortable on his skateboard. The American businessman, owner of several football clubs including Olympique Lyonnais, Crystal Palace and Botafogo, even pulled off an impeccable spinning top on the occasion of the fourth edition of a surf festival in Saquarema, a coastal town. in the state of Rio de Janeiro.

But this video obviously didn't cover everything. The Brazilian media reported this Monday that the director of the Eagle Football Group, aged 58 and a skateboarding champion in his youth, had to undergo an operation on his right elbow on Sunday, following a fall during his demonstration.

“I have been skateboarding for many years,” Textor said, according to comments relayed by Globo. I had a really bad fall. I should wear elbow pads and not jump like I did when I was younger. But it happens to me all the time…”

The OL boss is currently in Brazil to be heard by the Federal Senate in Brasília after his accusations of corruption in Brazilian football. According to him, Palmeiras, the reigning champion, has bought referees in the last two years. He also denounced the behavior of players from São Paulo FC and Fortaleza, who allegedly manipulated results to favor Palmeiras.

This Monday, with his right arm in a sling, he maintained his accusations during his discussions with parliamentarians. According to Jorge Kajuru, the president of this commission, he provided “evidence”, including an audio recording of a referee. “It was not a conversation without content. On the contrary, it had content. We have enough evidence to investigate thoroughly.”

At the end of his hearing, Textor had strong words in front of the tense microphones. “We must clean up Brazilian football (...) What we discovered is no different from the rest of the world, from Belgium, from France, from all of Europe. Manipulation of results is a reality!”