PortraitThe Lyonnais leader drew a lot of criticism by multiplying the positions on the stop of the championship of France, but he did not stop fighting.
Jean-Michel Aulas spent his confinement alone in his apartment in the Cité internationale de Lyon. A "Neo-neighborhood" impersonal built twenty years ago on the banks of the Rhône and the Tête-d'Or park. It houses the Congress Center, the Museum of Contemporary Art, cinemas, hotels and soulless restaurants.
This is where he celebrated his 71e birthday, March 22. Only. Recently separated from his partner and without his son, Alexandre, 34, the president of Olympique Lyonnais (OL) is going through a dirty period. For this hyperactive, who exhausts his teams by his pace of work, confinement is a curse. He still has his phone, which he used and abused.
Evocation of an unwelcome "white season"
Since he had, in an interview at World, March 13, raised the hypothesis of a "White season", without ranking or ranking, of the championship of France of football, because of the pandemic, he confirms his status as the most hated man in national football.
On social networks, especially Twitter, where he is very active, he is called a spoiled old man, a scavenger. Many see in his wish for a “white season”, an interested approach. Explanation: if the championship interrupted by the crisis is canceled, as he suggests, the classification of 2019 would prevail, in other words, OL would be third and therefore qualified for the very lucrative Champions League. Conversely, if the classification used is that at the date of the interruption, OL would be seventh, therefore out of the race for Europe.
Jacques-Henri Eyraud, president of Olympique de Marseille (OM), OL rival and second in the interrupted championship, accuses him of using a tragedy to advance his own interests. He calls him "Líder máximo" in The Sunday Journal. The Lyon leader, who has never been afraid of controversy, this time decides to prosecute his Marseille counterpart in libel. "This is the only time I have done it," he assures us in an interview, Thursday, May 28, before adding: "Otherwise, my com is never aggressive. "
The solution of the white season is not absurd: it is the choice made by French rugby and basketball, and no one has shouted scandal. But, in football, it does not pass. Perhaps because of scathing statements, self-righteousness and hallway maneuvers, Aulas ended up making more enemies than he thought.
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