July 22 – Already facing potential defamation charges for comments he made regarding match-fixing in Brazil, Eagle Football Holdings group principle John Textor has incurred the wrath of French champions PSG.
Textor is the majority shareholder in Ligue 1 club Lyon and has made a habit of attacking the ownership structure and dominance of PSG as he has battled with his own financial challenges across his group and in France with the Direction Nationale du Contrôle de Gestion (DNCG) that monitors and overseas the financial status of French clubs.
His latest comments in an interview with Brazilian broadcaster Globo have proved to be the final straw for the PSG management who have no threatened legal action if he continues to make “false, incendiary, undignified, and nonsensical”, comments.
In his broadcast interview Textor said that in France he was competing “with a country, not an owner. A model of unbridled spending, without restrictions.”
He said of his own club, in the face of PSG’s financial dominance, they “can’t compete for anything other than second place.” He also said he would like to “kick PSG’s ass,” and wished them “a bad year”.
In response a letter from PSG’s general secretary Victoriano Melero said Textor’s comments were “false, incendiary, undignified, and nonsensical”, and that: “We would like to respond to a few of your most unwarranted smears that are particularly false, hypocritical, and disrespectful not only to PSG but the wider French football family.”
Melereo points out that Lyon is facing its own issues with the DNCG restrictions under his management and that he had previously complained about French financial sustainability rules, calling for them to abolished, saying that as a billionaire he should be allowed to spend as much money as he wants.
The letter countered the accusation of Qatari control saying that a “significant portion of our Club today is owned by US investor Arctos – which we thought you might be aware of, coming from the US. Less than 20% of PSG’s commercial revenue comes from Qatar companies, while PSG has signed 50 new partners in the last 6 years and only one of these was a Qatari brand.”
While Textor has complained about PSG’s money on one hand, Melero points out that even while “playing to the public gallery” he has asked for PSG support on other topics behind closed doors and it hasn’t prevented him from “privatelyasking PSG to make advance payments for the transfer of Bradley Barcola to provide revenues for your own mercato.”
“As a newcomer to France, we humbly suggest informing yourself of some basic facts, while also perhaps having some self-reflection. We would also encourage you to think of the long-term interests of French football and all clubs, rather than short term gimmicks to make money for yourself,” continues Melero.
Melero concludes saying that “should you personally continue your defamatory and damaging statements, we willbe forced to add to your growing number of law suits in Brazil with additional action in France.”
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