Debt-ridden Lyon handed transfer ban, threatened with relegation

Debt-ridden French club Lyon were handed a transfer ban and threatened with relegation from the top flight by the game's financial watchdog on Friday.

Despite the sanction, which also included salary supervision, the club's American owner John Textor said he "was not all worried".

The Direction Nationale du Controle de Gestion (DNCG) ordered the "provisional relegation" if the club's financial health fails to improve.

Textor's Eagle Football Holdings, which is the leading shareholder in Lyon as well as Crystal Palace in the English Premier League and Brazil's Botafogo, has net debt of €463.8 million despite a reduction in its net losses.

Textor told reporters that he wasn't concerned about the club's sustainability.

"I am confident in our figures," he said before adding "we will bring in several hundred million in the coming months."

To clear the debt, the company is counting on cash coming in particular from Botafogo and their Belgian club Molenbeek.

However, as they may not be able to judge the "reasonable" nature of these cash streams, the auditors indicated Friday that they might not certify the accounts. 

"The local commissioners only looked at the French football club and did not consider the hundreds of millions of dollars that will come from different parts of our organisation," added Textor. 

To reassure Lyon supporters, the American insisted that the club would not be forced into a fire sale of their best players because the "goal is to reach the Champions League this year."

"We earn around €90 million per year from the sale of players," he added.

"It will continue, but don't worry, it won't be your favourite player or the best player if we don't have someone to replace him and who can play even better.

"I am confident in our figures but I am never confident in the way a regulatory body sees things."

Lyon went into the current international break in fifth place in Ligue 1, a point outside the Champions League spots.