“Comparing our leaders with Thebes would be an insult”

“When I see Benzema score more goals than ever and in France they did not want to resume soccer, I despair“says Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas, who has poorly digested that his country's league has not done everything possible to finish the championship after the coronavirus crisis.”We are the laughing stock of Europe“says Aulas in an interview with Efe in which he directly accuses the leaders of his championship of having given priority to private interests and praises the attitude of others, such as that of the Spanish League, Javier Tebas.

A soccer fan and successful businessman, Aulas especially follows those players who, like Karim Benzema, once wore their team's jersey. But does not hide the “envy” he feels to see how other leagues remained calm in the worst moments of the pandemic while the French threw in the towel “too soon”.

“Comparing our leaders with Thebes would be an insult. He is a great leader who has managed to temporize when it had to be done and accelerate at the right time, “says Aulas, who has seen the precipitous end of his league lead Lyon to stay out of Europe for the first time in 23 years.

In addition, consider that Thebes “has defended the clubs and has managed to negotiate with UEFA” so that football “becomes a source of motivation for the country”, who have overcome a more complicated health situation than there was in France.

A League on the edge of the precipice

Aulas fears that the decision of their country's league will leave French football “on the brink of the precipice”, with significant economic losses and a setback in the UEFA ranking, which distances them from the four major championships and threatens to be overtaken by Portugal and Russia, who have played again. “Competitiveness with other clubs will be unfavorable to us“says the businessman, who took control of Lyon 33 years ago and has made him one of the benchmarks in Europe.

His greatest hope for returning to the European competition is to win the Champions League, for which needs “a miracle”, as he admits, since he will have to defend against Juventus in Turin the 1-0 achieved in the first leg of the round of 16 to be able to enter the final phase to be played in Portugal.

“I am going to visit Lourdes and then Fatima“jokes the leader, who believes that his team was already at a disadvantage against Juve, which has a better squad, but now” it is even more so, because they will have a sports shoot. “Lyon, who puts financial losses at 100 million This season, he will stop entering another 90 the next if he does not play in Europe, a situation that makes him fear an exodus of players, among them the young Brazilian Bruno Guimaraes, who arrived last January and has grown a lot in sports, which has opened the doors of the “canarinha”.

Aulas is convinced that he will receive offers for him, but he hopes that he will continue on the banks of the Rhone. “We have a good squad, many of them are interested in the continent, we risk losing players. But it is also true that the value of the players has dropped and we also hope that the big clubs have less money than other years, “he says.

Supports in Europe

A member of the Association of European Clubs (ECA), which groups the largest on the continent, Aulas says that none of his colleagues understand that France rushed in this way. “I speak to the presidents of Atlético, Madrid, Barcelona, ​​… they are stunned“He points out. But also in France more and more colleagues are agreeing with him.”I felt very alone defending that the league had to be finished. But now there are many who agree with me and I hope that this will change the way of controlling the league“he points out.

Aulas remembers that it is not the first time that he has been seen alone in the first line of fighting that has subsequently proved him right. “I had to go to Brussels to be allowed to take the club public. I was the first to build a private stadium in the country and nobody believed me when I started promoting women's football and we have hosted the final of a World Cup in our stadium, “he says.

Precisely his women's team, which will defend the title of European champion, benefited from the premature end of the national championship due to the coronavirus, since he was proclaimed winner of his league. “But I did not vote on that decision. It is the proof that I do not act for personal interests. I do it for the general good. Stopping the league was an economic stupidity and a sports injustice, whoever benefits, “he says.