A page is turning at Olympique Lyonnais. While the club is entangled in an unprecedented crisis, with a place at the bottom after nine days of Ligue 1 (no victory on the clock), and a terrible new hiccup on Sunday against Clermont (1-2), John’s OL Textor just announced a major decision this Monday. After fourteen years serving the men’s and women’s teams, and a status as Jean-Michel Aulas’s true right-hand man, the club’s general director of football Vincent Ponsot will refocus on the women’s side.
Via a statementOL explains that he will in fact abandon his responsibilities within the men’s OL from January 3, 2024. “Promoted” general manager of the women’s OL from January 3, 2024, “Vincent Ponsot will concentrate, in her new role, to realizing Michele Kang’s vision for women’s football.
Publicly tackled by Juninho, Gunnarsdottir and Dembélé
“Vincent’s leadership will help us realize our vision to build the best global organization while elevating women’s football on a global scale,” explains the American businesswoman, owner of the OL women’s section for five years. month. “I am happy to see Vincent recognized in this leadership role. Michele is creating a high-performance culture and wants the best talent to execute her innovative and globally ambitious vision for women’s football. Vincent’s proven track record for OL and his excellent reputation among football leaders across Europe make him the right choice for this role,” comments John Textor, in search of his successor as CEO. men’s football.
Long recognized on the legal side, Vincent Ponsot has been strongly criticized in recent years for his human and sporting management, both by the former sporting director of the club Juninho, the former player Sara Björk Gunnarsdottir, who had denounced in January 2023 “shameful” behavior by OL during her pregnancy, and more recently Moussa Dembélé. In an interview with Foot Mercato last month, the former Lyon striker, now in Saudi Arabia, criticized Vincent Ponsot for “not knowing football”, for having “been disrespectful” and for playing “a game sneaky” by “stirring up the hatred of supporters” towards him. There were many episodes which in the spring had prompted the corners of Parc OL to demand the resignation of the football CEO, but also that of recruitment manager Bruno Cheyrou, to whom he was very close.