Olympique Lyonnais: the “opposition” with Textor created “a blockage among the players”, assures Aulas

“We suffer when we see the sporting results of our OL and we begin to imagine that the opposition attitude created a sort of blockage perhaps among the players. We thought about the employees and the players,” declared Jean-Michel Aulas on Saturday, on the sidelines of the FFF general assembly during which he was elected vice-president of the federation. Last Sunday after Lyon's victory against Toulouse (3-0), the American businessman John Textor, owner and president of OL, and Jean-Michel Aulas, emblematic former president of the club of which he is now a minority shareholder, showed their unity after months of litigation.

“I made sure to be present and open. I had the pleasure of being able to hug the players I had recruited in the past. We hope that the trend will continue to reverse because Lyon cannot be placed where it is currently,” commented the former Lyon manager. On Sunday, John Textor came to shake hands with Aulas, all smiles, who congratulated him on this second success of the season. Since then, OL (16th) beat Monaco (1-0) on Friday, their third victory this season. It was the first time that “JMA” returned to Groupama Stadium since May 27 (victory over Reims 3-0), a match at the end of which a tribute was paid to him. Three weeks earlier, on May 5, Textor had dismissed him from his position as executive president, which he was supposed to occupy for three years as part of the sale of OL Groupe in December 2022.

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Textor, via its Eagle football holding company, holds 87% of the shares and Aulas, via its family holding company, Holnest, owns 8.23%. On Monday, OL management signed an agreement for the repurchase of shares from Jean-Michel Aulas and the abandonment of complaints between him and his successor.