BBC: Lyon Owner Claims PSG Can Spend Without Limits; Paris Warns of Defamation Lawsuit

According to the BBC, Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) has issued a legal warning to Jean-Michel Aulas, owner of Olympique Lyonnais, following his “defamatory and disparaging” remarks about PSG in a media interview.

Aulas is the owner of Eagle Football Group, which is the main shareholder of Lyon and the largest stakeholder in English Premier League club Crystal Palace. In the interview, Aulas likened PSG to “a state rather than a club” and accused it of having an “unlimited spending model.” Since 2011, the majority share of PSG has been controlled by Qatar Sports Investments.

In a letter to Aulas, PSG’s General Director Víctoriano Melero described his comments as “false, provocative, disrespectful, and baseless.” The letter also noted that Aulas’ criticism of PSG overlooked his own club’s breaches of financial regulations under UEFA and the French National Professional Football Management Committee (DNCG).

Last July, the DNCG announced that it would impose external supervision on Lyon’s transfers and salaries for the 2023-24 season due to the club’s failure to provide sufficient financial guarantees. However, these measures were lifted in December when the DNCG approved Lyon’s new budget plan.

The letter from PSG further mentioned that Aulas had criticized the spending policies of the English Premier League in February. PSG emphasized that a significant portion of its equity is held by American investors Arctos, and less than 20% of the club’s commercial revenue comes from Qatari companies. Over the past six years, PSG has secured 50 new partnership deals, only one of which is with a Qatari brand.

The letter concluded with a warning that if Aulas continues to make “defamatory and damaging statements,” PSG will have no choice but to take further legal action against him in Brazil and France.

It is worth noting that Aulas is also the largest shareholder of Botafogo, a top-flight Brazilian league team. He is currently facing litigation in Brazil over several alleged violations.