Jean-Michel Aulas with Noël Le Graët, March 13, 2021. – FRANCK FIFE / AFP
His name was mentioned by the UEFA president when thanking those who had refused to give in to the sirens of the Super League. But Jean-Michel Aulas had not yet expressed himself publicly on this stillborn project,
before this interview granted to the team published Thursday morning.
JMA is quite transparent, recognizing that if he was against a project “not compatible with the wishes of the supporters”, he waited for the PSG to position itself to follow in his footsteps: “I asked myself, as a president of Olympique Lyonnais, if I had the right to neglect such an “opportunity.” I was convinced that it was necessary to refuse and say it, but on the other hand, I did not know if I had to affirm: one We were talking about such enormous sums… The position of Nasser (Al-Khelaïfi) helped me a lot. I was irritated in his time by the manner and the means implemented by the PSG. from the moment when Nasser resisted more than all the others, it showed that it was necessary to follow the train of UEFA and PSG ”.
A brief hesitation which did not prevent the Lyon leader from being very circumspect about this attempted coup. And for good reason, the ECA had held a meeting on Friday during which all the clubs, including the 12 traitors, had given their agreement for the new formula of the C1 from 2024. And then Agnelli unplugged his phone, ignoring calls from Ceferin and Aulas, among others. “UEFA had accepted the main request of the ECA, which was to have shared governance to manage the European Cups. It was all the more incredible to see this Super League project come out. The form is even more surprising than the substance. But we were cheated and furious at the way it happened ”.