John Textor has resigned from his leadership roles at Lyon and teased his involvement with a new club in England after selling his stake in Crystal Palace last week.
Textor - who remains chair, CEO and majority owner of Eagle Football Holdings - has confirmed he is stepping back from his day-to-day responsibilities at the French club, who were relegated to Ligue 2, with Michael Gerlinger appointed to the position of CEO and Michele Kang to the position of chair and president.
In a statement, Textor said he will now be focused on his other clubs, including Botafogo and Daring Brussels, while teasing involvement with another club in England.
Textor said: "I am extremely proud of the global sporting successes of Eagle Football, with historic championships, cup wins, and tournament qualifications in Brazil, France and England, but it's clear that we must make changes in our management approach, if we expect to be as effective off the pitch, as we are on the pitch."
Regarding Olympique Lyonnais, he added: "Each of our clubs and communities deserve leadership, with a strong local presence, and the acumen to overcome both the sporting and the non-sporting challenges that we face. It's obvious to everyone that Michele is a perfect choice to lead OL, and I am thrilled for our community that she has accepted the job."
He continued: "On a personal level, I am truly looking forward to the reduction of my day-to-day management responsibilities in Europe, so I can focus on markets where we have the full freedom to run our football clubs...to invest, innovate, grow and compete. OL in great hands with Michele, and I will focus on Botafogo, Daring Brussels and our next club in England."
Textor's tease of his involvement with another club comes after he sold his stake in Crystal Palace to New York Jets owner Woody Johnson.
Textor's shares in Palace threatened to be an obstacle to their participation in the Europa League next season because the American's stake Lyon, who are set to enter the same competition.
Under UEFA's multi-club ownership rules, it looked as though Palace could miss out.
However, Textor's 43 per cent stake in the London club has now been sold to Johnson in a deal worth more than £190m and values Palace at more than £400m.
On Monday, UEFA announced it has postponed its decision on Palace and Lyon's involvement in the Europa League.
'Lyon's relegation a massive earthquake for French football - and Textor is to blame'
French football expert Julien Laurens speaking to Sky Sports News:
"Back in November, Lyon had been provisionally relegated by the DNCG (French football's financial body) because at the time they were in debt of around £200m. The DNCG said, 'If it stays like this, you're going to go down regardless of where you finish in the league, so you better sort out yours account between now and June.
"And John Textor was like, 'Yes, don't worry, no problem. We will sell players in January. We will do the same before the end of June. We've got all these plans in place'.
"So they went in quite optimistic to meet the DNCG but this news was a massive earthquake in French football because we all thought and understood that Lyon would be OK, and actually the plans they put forward for sorting out their financial issues were not convincing enough for the DNCG.
"They will appeal but the thing is, they won't have much time between now and the appeal to put a plan in place that was different from the one they presented.
"They sold Rayan Cherki to Manchester City - that was part of the plan. [But] you can't take money off Botafogo to just put it on the Lyon account. They've been trying to put a plan like that together but that didn't work.
"Now I'm just not sure what else they can do apart from maybe selling Malick Fofana to an English club, maybe another player or two. But again, they will be really running against the clock and other clubs will also know that they need money very quickly, so they won't be in a powerful position in terms of transfer fees.
"I'm actually quite worried now because we've seen in the past clubs who were relegated, then appealed, then find a way with new investors, money coming in from one way or another, to stay up. But for Lyon, the clock is ticking massively now.
"It's terrible. Since John Textor took over and bought the club from Jean-Michel Aulas, who is this historic figure in Lyon who took the club from mid-table in the second division in the mid-eighties to seven league titles in a row and the semi-finals of the Champions League, to this now, to being relegated to the second tier in France.
"John Textor's made this club a mess. There's no other way of putting it. He's been one of the worst owners, spending money everywhere, sacking managers, hiring the wrong managers.
"I just don't know how you get out of this. If you're Lyon, this is a terrible position to be in."
