Ligue 1/French football 19/20

No idea why they were using that as an excuse for null and void, there were a lot of rumours saying PSG would be champs. Just clutching at straws

 

Final classification of the French championship 2019-2020

 

New investors at OL?

For several weeks, le10sport.com has been investigating the possible arrival of UAE investors in the French championship. And the most likely track leads to Olympique Lyonnais. Explanations.
Nine years after the Qataris' arrival at the helm of Paris Saint-Germain, deep thought is said to be coming from investors from the United Arab Emirates. Their wish would be as follows: invest in a Ligue 1 club and compete with a PSG which is today very powerful. For this, a very strict specification would have been drawn up in an attempt to find the ideal stable for such a project. According to our information, this club must be very financially solid, have a significant player asset, be part of a large metropolitan area (with the possibility of developing businesses annexed to those of the football world) and be the owner of its stadium. If the Covid-19 crisis changes the situation somewhat, with fears linked to the market outlook and the economic situation of the various clubs, the project would still be on the agenda. And quite naturally, Olympique Lyonnais presents itself as the ideal candidate for such a dossier. The robot portrait of the targeted project corresponds in many ways to OL.

A privileged link with OL…

Owner of Groupama Stadium, Olympique Lyonnais ticks many boxes in this folder. In addition to the stadium, the active players are very present - with in addition a training know-how which is really enough to attract potential investors - just like the agglomeration, whose dynamism is real in many sectors. And as chance often does things very well, Dubai has a special connection with its president, Jean-Michel Aulas. The boss of CEGID (a company that publishes management software) has opened several international subsidiaries in recent years, and in particular in Dubai in 2012 (CEGID Middle East). This business gateway to the Middle East allows the boss of Les Gones to have a "privileged" link with the United Arab Emirates. And Jean-Michel Aulas never hid this relationship: "I have never been contacted by the Qataris, directly or indirectly. On the other hand, there are other emirates who have their vocation to come. There are two other emirates who can afford to invest in a European club, there are first Abu Dhabi and Dubai and we can also add Saudi Arabia. I’m one of the people who’s interested in this part of the world. We signed a partnership agreement three years ago with Dubai to create a football institute there. "

The signing of Hamdam Al Kamali, the first Emirati player in history to play in France in 2012, was a first approach. A stroke that had not been a winner since the Emirati defender tasted only the joys of the reserve team, before disappearing from circulation. But the signing of Fly Emirates as the club's next shirt sponsor (from the 2020-2021 season) on February 7, further confirms the link between OL and Dubai. A way to take collaboration a step further. Before shifting up a gear?

A warrant to sell the club

If we have not had any confirmation of concrete discussion about a takeover of OL by UAE funds, we can say that the club is indeed looking for an investor. According to our sources, a Parisian business firm would have a mandate from Olympique Lyonnais to find a financial partner, with the possibility of opening discussions on a possible sale. And between the desire for investment in French football in the UAE and the desire to find investors on the Lyon side, the link seems obvious. All the more in light of Jean-Michel Aulas' excellent relations with the Middle East for years.

The 71-year-old, incontrovertible OL president is unofficially preparing for his exit. According to L’Equipe, Jean-Michel Aulas would like this to happen by 2023, nearing his 75th birthday. By recruiting Juninho as sports director, but especially by getting closer to Tony Parker, he is clearly looking for a successor. A man capable of taking up the torch and sustaining the success of his OL, built since the 1980s and now listed on the stock market. The arrival of a powerful investor could allow him to realize his dreams of greatness and above all to give up his hand serenely.

https://le10sport.com/football/mercato/exclu-mercato-de-nouveaux-investisseurs-a-lol-502846

 

For several days now, the rumour of a sale of Olympique de Marseille to a Saudi businessman has been growing on social networks.

It all started with a brief on an Italian site whose reliability is an enigma. But this weekend, the information was picked up en masse by the biggest European media. On Saturday, the Madrid newspaper AS reported on the possible sale of Olympique Marseille to Al-Walid Bin Talal. On Sunday, Italian journalist Marco Conterio put a coin in the machine. Tutto Mercato Web's insider says that Frank McCourt and the wealthy Saudi businessman are currently negotiating the sale of Olympique de Marseille. However, one element could block the transaction: the Orange Velodrome, which Bin-Talal also wants to buy but which is not owned by Frank McCourt.

"Negotiations for the purchase of OM by Al-Walid Bin Talal are ongoing. Negotiations around 250 ME, but nothing is recorded about the price. The objective of the Saudi businessman is also to be the owner of the Velodrome Stadium" explained this journalist, who is not very well known in France, it must be said. And as if the OM fans needed that to get excited, Simone Rovera was very complimentary towards his colleague from Tutto Mercato Web, which obviously gives weight and credibility to the information. "You are many to ask me the same question... I can tell you that I know @marcoconterio very well and he is an excellent journalist. If he's writing this, he's certainly worked on his information. That was all it took for OM supporters to believe strongly in a takeover of the club even if, for the moment, the information has not found any confirmation in a French media...

 

The OGC Nice would have planned an envelope of 80M€ for the summer mercato, in spite of the losses linked to the sanitary situation.

Nice budget.

 

Marseille, Bordeaux, Saint-Etienne and Lille are on the verge of bankruptcy.

 

OL 2020-2021

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First big money signing of the season?

Sent from my Nokia 6.2 using Tapatalk

 

Nah mate the rainjurz
Done that the other day did you need read it man! First club to spend money during the pandemic leading the way again according to their fans!

 

France's Ligue 1 season could resume despite being prematurely ended in April with play-offs used to crown the champions and decide relegation, UEFA have said.

Prime Minister Edouard Philippe announced the cancellation of all sporting events at the end of April and the table was decided on a points-per-game basis with Paris Saint-Germain winning the title.
But following the successful return of the German Bundesliga, the Premier League, LaLiga and Serie A have all confirmed their competitions will resume, indicating France may have been hasty to call a halt to their campaign.

UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin has now opened the door for a possible restart to the season after several clubs threatened legal action.

Ceferin wrote in an official UEFA communication on Friday: 'We would first of all like to clarify that it is the competence of national associations to decide on the format of their domestic competitions, in particular by taking into account the circumstances and restrictive measures specific to the country.

'As mentioned by UEFA a few weeks ago, the French authorities' decision to cancel the season was taken relatively early.
'Nevertheless, and provided that the national associations are able to coordinate with the competent national authorities a potential restart of domestic competition, August 2, 2020, would be an appropriate date to end the domestic
Seventh-placed Lyon missed out on European football for the first time since 1996 while Marseille and Rennes both qualified for the Champions League.

Lyon president Jean Michel Aulas outlined his intention to sue the French state in order to get the season restarted.

Marseille were second, 12 points behind PSG while Rennes finished third and qualified for Europe's elite tournament for the first time in their history.

Lyon joined relegated pair Amiens and Toulouse who have vowed to fight their case in the courts.

The German top flight resumed on May 18 and Spain's LaLiga will be the next to restart their season with the Seville derby kicking things off on June 12.
competitions.'
The Premier League begins again on June 17 with Serie A resuming three days later.

France followed in the footsteps of Holland and Belgium by taking an early decision to cancel their season. Dutch Eredivisie bosses decided their would be no promotion or relegation with Ajax and AZ Alkmaar being denied the title.

However, in Belgian Pro League, leaders Club Brugge were crowned champions while Charleroi, Antwerp, Standard Liege qualified for the Champions League as Waasland-Beveren were relegated.
Both Lyon and PSG remain in this season's Champions League and the competition could be set to be completed as a mini tournament in either Lisbon or Frankfurt.
PSG defeated Borussia Dortmund in the last 16 while Lyon have a 1-0 lead over Juventus with the second leg still to be played.

Despite being awarded the title, PSG forward Angel Di Maria admitted he was surprised Ligue 1 did not take the same approach as Germany, Spain England and Italy in waiting to see if they could resume matches.

He told L'Equipe: 'Like many, I think we rushed to make such a decision. From what we can see, France is today one of the countries where the health situation is the most favourable, and yet everything has been totally stopped for good.'

 

Just watched the end of that french cup final. Went to pens and before they were taken all the players just laughing and smiling and that. Usually if a cup final goes to pens it tense as f@@k. These games with no crowd or hardly any crowd are so different, feels like there is nothing at stake!

 

Naymar is still a *