John Textor in deepening Botafogo crisis after OL exit | OneFootball

John Textor’s Brazilian project is unravelling, with Botafogo weighed down by debt and the 60-year-old already sidelined from control. The American had been pushed out at Olympique Lyonnais last year.

Feted in 2024 after Botafogo’s league and Copa Libertadores double, he is now accused in Brazil of leaving the Rio club in a critical financial state. Official reports put liabilities at 2.7 billion reais, about 460 million euros.

An arbitral tribunal removed him from the club’s management last month, and SAF Botafogo publicly rebuked him for neglecting financial and institutional stability. AFP has reported cashflow so tight a loan was needed to pay March salaries.

Textor says he has an understanding with Ares, principal creditor to Eagle Football Holdings Bidco, which could bring fresh capital, though he gave no detail. Eagle Bidco was placed under administration in England at the end of March, and the club has an offer from US fund GDA Luma to take a majority, with judicial recovery under consideration to restructure debt.

Botafogo are under a transfer ban and in April won a court order for Lyon to pay 20.8 million euros over unpaid debts. Mid-table this season, they have lost 2024 standouts Thiago Almada, Luiz Henrique and Jefferson Savarino, and this week appointed 31-year-old economist Eduardo Iglesias as chief executive after a fallout with Textor.

Source: Le Progres