September 15, 2022
The brief from today:
Lyon takeover still not officially complete
The takeover of Lyon made for big headlines when it was announced in June that American business man, John Textor, had agreed a deal to be the Ligue 1 side’s new owner. Textor, who is also a part owner of Crystal Palace in the Premier League, made the investment in Lyon via his company Eagle Football Holdings. After 35 years of owning the majority of the club’s shares, Jean-Michel Aulas was set to step aside, however recent reports suggest the transaction hasn’t been concluded. There was an initial deadline set when the takeover news became public, which gave Textor until the end of September to officially finalize the deal, but it appears he is still trying to raise the necessary funds with little time remaining. The pending balance still owed by Textor is rumored to be in the tens of millions, and unless he resolves the issue, the supposed 68 percent majority of shares he was set to acquire won’t be his after all. Textor, as well as Lyon officials, seem fairly certain the money will be raised in time, very little has been said about what would happen if that doesn't transpire. With two of the other companies—Pathe and IDG—that held the majority of shares, roughly 20 percent each, behind Aulas’s majority having already withdrawn form Lyon, Textor will have to do all he can to ensure the deal gets finalized.
John Textor (left) is still trying to raise the necessary funds to confirm his takeover of Lyon
More age related narratives for DR Congo
DR Congo coach, Sebastien Desabre, announced his squad for next week’s internationals against Burkina Faso and Sierra Leone, and one of the names comes with a bit of recent baggage. Stuttgart striker, Silas Katompa Mvumpa, has started the Bundesliga well, making the first 11 for each of the seven matches played thus far. This consistency helped him earn the recent call up, but prior to this he’s had a rather eventful year. In June 2021, Mvumpa received a €30,000 fine plus a three-month suspension from Germany’s football association. His punishment came as a result of his admission that he had been playing with forged documents. The registration papers he had been using to play, which had his name listed as Silas Wamangituka, falsely identified his age 22, when he was actually 23. His disclosure was made after the 2020/21 season where he was awarded the Bundesliga Rookie of the year due to his impressive 13 goals scored. The authorities were far from pleased—as the punishments suggest—that a prize reserved for youngsters in the game, was awarded to Mvumpa only to discover he was older than some of the other rookies in contention. He has now paid for his indiscretion, which he blamed on the misguidance he received form his representatives, and his fear of them, but he is now back in the fold for both club and country. This isn’t the first time a player from DR Congo has been embroiled in a misleading age story, as Marseille defender, Chancel Mbemba, went through this earlier in his career, and also as recently as this summer. The former Porto defender left Portugal when it was alleged that his previous employers refused to renew his contract after finding some discrepancies with his age. Mbemba denies any wrongdoing, but between him, and now Mvumpa, these aren’t the types of narratives the DR Congo national team want to be associated with.
Mbemba (left) and Mvumpa (right) have both had complications with the age subject