It is definitely a pivotal week in front of the instances for professional Lyonnais sport. While John Textor will try this Tuesday to convince the DNCG to lift the “confinement as a precaution” pronounced in November against OL, the ASVEL is also in great difficulty. Champion of France in 2019 and 2023, and quarter finalist of LFB this season, Lyon Asvel Female was indeed demolished Monday from the elite to the Regional League by the Management Control Commission (CCG).
If the club chaired by Tony Parker has announced to appeal, this administrative demotion follows the examination of the disturbing financial situation of the Lyon women’s club (the budget increased from 21 to 16 million euros this season, concluded with 8 million euros in deficit). All “in a context marked by the failure of a major partner”, as denounced by the press release transmitted by ASVEL.
The Skweek platform has accelerated the fall of ASVEL
This one aims at the Skweek streaming platform, which had signed in 2023 a partnership contract with ASVEL and LYON ASVEL Female for a total sum of 21 million euros over three years. Without keeping his commitment to believe Tony Parker, who announced in April that he puts in formal notice from this company belonging to Fedcom, led by the businessman Aleksej Fedicsev, president of AS Monaco Basket, for non-compliance with his contract.
Unable to bring “the necessary guarantees within the delays expected by the CCG”, Lyon Asvel Female is therefore about to leave the female league, only two years after its superb Eurocoupe-Championnat with Gabby Williams and Marine Johannès. The situation is barely less worrying for the men’s team, titled in 2019, 2021 and 2022, semi-finalist this year and permanent member of Euroligue. Is there too, is a relegation of this championship giant topical?
Parker pending better days thanks to the NBA
“There has never been any risk of demotion,” says Tony Parker in The team This Tuesday. The most important thing is to have let the storm pass. We looked at several solutions and in the end, we decided to settle this internally, between shareholders, to continue this adventure where everyone has invested a lot. We are at dawn, I believe, to see something big coming … “A reference to the desire of the NBA to invest in Europe, while the majority shareholder of ASVEL since 2014 participates in these discussions between the NBA, the Euroligue and the FIBA.
In the meantime, ASVEL must have resolved to let all its best players spin this summer, namely Théo Maledon (Real Madrid), Neal Sako (Valence), as well as Joffrey Lauvergne, Paris Lee and André Roberson, that the club cannot extend.
All our articles on Tony Parker
The Regional Chamber of Accounts (CRC) Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes had published on May 20 a report in which it estimated the financial situation of the most successful basketball club in “degraded” France, and its “non-viable” economic model.
However, Tony Parker therefore specifies in Progress that “everything has been settled with the DNCG”, the National Directorate of Council and Management Control of the National Basketball Line (LNB). “TP” is even optimistic for the future of the women’s section, about to leave the professional world: “We had to take care of the situation in the male section. But women are a subject as important as men for me. We will find the solutions. »»
