Crystal Palace shareholder John Textor is facing trouble in France with Lyon, another club in his network, over unpaid bills to debtors.
Ouest France cover the situation today, relaying information from Le Progrès, regarding a developing situation and a warning from Décines Town Hall sent to the Crystal Palace shareholder and Lyon, the French club he also owns.
The newspaper explains that Lyon have been ‘accumulating delays’ with their suppliers, so much so that they now owe €20m.
Suppliers working for various sectors, including food, security, maintenance, entertainment and tax sectors are all part of a large group owed money by Lyon and Textor’s Eagle Holding.
Décines city hall are one of them and have now decided to react, with the city’s mayor, Laurence Fautra, ‘demanding reimbursements’ and going public with a warning for the American businessman.
She’s used the newspaper to make his message clear, stating that “with public money, we don’t do what we want. We provide staff, costs are incurred, and Eagle (the club’s holding company) has to reimburse us for things.”
She goes on to explain that payment deadlines have not been respected, in particular one relating to 2023 property tax, which are subject to regulations from the Public Treasury.
“A month ago, this was not the case, but today, it has been partially regularized. We are in the process of issuing the 2024 revenue certificate. New debts will arrive and will have to be recovered,” she added.
Eagle Football Group acknowledged a problem in a press release dated September 23rd and “cash flow difficulties” but have seemingly still not paid debts to Décines, leading Fautra to issue a stark warning to the Crystal Palace shareholder.
“The hesitation can also be linked to changes in personnel, but we made it clear to these gentlemen that we do not play with public money, otherwise the Treasury will seize it,” she concluded in her column.
